If the law requires sites to prompt users that cookies will be enforced (as this could be used to track them; to add a cookie without consent is breaking the law), yet, all Bitcoin Startups must acquire their user details (to make sure governments can track terrorists).
What if your Startup app had a webcam chat?
Users can say anything to each other (they may or may not be terrorists). What are you expected to do? Ask them politely to allow the recording of the conversation?
Not only would that be logistically impossible for any site (let alone a Startup) but, any law that is in place to protect someone is still broken even if the person at risk agrees to participate in bending it! This currently (in reality) happens in emails. Say, a scammer sends you a fake email which looks like a website you like so, then you might be fooled to click it or agree to something, after which; bad hypothetical stuffs happen!!
You agreeing to something does not mean a crime hasn't happened! As in the case with the email, 'you may have been intentionally fooled', but, what 'third party' could confidently say that the person didn't just clicked without reading, or miss-read or miss-understood the question?
In that case the governments would be asking us to follow the law by (quite possibly) breaking another.
The title of the news headline might instead read
Bitcoin Startup exploit snoops users private data
Another recent example is disturbing.
Remember how Erik Voorhees removed his company ShapeShift.io from New York? Here is an article from fortune.com on the matter.
In the article fortune quotes Eriks PleaseProtectConsumers.org sites small print:
“Bitcoin and blockchain technology have enabled a new standard of financial privacy and consumer protection… Unfortunately, in spite of the technological achievements that now protect consumers, some jurisdictions have legally mandated the continued extraction of sensitive private information.”
Then the other day I saw this:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/government-sue-companies-dataThe gist is in the title: U.S. government can now sue companies that fail to protect customer data
WOW! (These two events are only weeks apart)
Is the law aroud Bitcoin made to be a trap for Bitcoin companies?
Benz Muircroft
