WHY PEOPLE ARE NOT TAKING THEIR PRIVACY SERIOUSLY.

[southerngentuk]

Think about those everyday moments you post online, like what you eat or who you're with. While it might seem harmless, sharing that information in real-time can reveal clues about your routines and habits, making it easier for someone to track you or invade your privacy.

Even if you wait a few days before posting, remember that nothing online truly disappears. Those seemingly insignificant details can add up over time, painting a detailed picture of your life for anyone who knows where to look.

The desire for validation can be especially dangerous when it comes to sharing sensitive information. We see this with people who post about their finances, including their Bitcoin transactions. While Bitcoin is supposed to be anonymous, openly sharing those details exposes you to potential financial harm.

The internet is like a public square - anything you share there becomes part of the record, and it's virtually impossible to erase it completely. That's why it's so important to be cautious and think twice before you hit "post."

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[arabspaceship123]

It's difficult to accept but what you're saying's possible. If it's going to happen ppl won't be able to stop it because govts want to control the movement of finance. Crypto exchanges are being targeted to make them comply with govt rules so they've got to be centralised with KYC. If they go after decentralised exchanges ppl won't be able to swap crypto without giving away info.

It could be what privacy's going to mean tomorrow.

Wether we accept if or not, it is a matter of time before privacy will be dead I regards to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. The recent developments have already shown that anything that has privacy attached to it will either be taken down tagged a bad name like "dark net". The authorities want to see everything and they will stop at nothing to achieve that, we don't have a choice other than to comply like we are already doing.

Maybe they have to find a new meaning of privacy,  like privacy provided by the authorities or controlled by them.

At the moment, we might still feel there can be privacy in the digital space but soon we will come to term with reality that nothing is and will be really private

[franky1]

people just need to get smarter and stop thinking privacy is default..
after all an empty house does not come with curtains or blinds. when you move in you need to get curtains and blinds to stop the neighbours peeking in your windows, yep privacy in your own home is not default when you move in

a few idea's for those talking about "privacy coins" and "anonymity enhanced subnetworks"

heres an idea for you
create a network in secret and write a white paper
dont mention privacy, dont mention cryptocurrency, dont mention virtual asset(VA)

instead describe it as a PPDA "private property digital asset" and file it with the patent office... and bam you have invented a new class of technology which can be defended in court if governments wanted to re classify as a currency, cryptocurrency or Virtual Asset
(NFT are treated differently than cryptocurrencies, so make a PPDA as different to CC as possible in its descriptions)

now part of the white paper would be to not call services that swap fiat for your PPDA as an exchange/Money Service. instead call them retailers that allow the buy.. and auctions that allow the sell of the PPDA

use terms that ensure your privacy coin is not a privacy coin even if it at code level provides that utility for people who use it

the government are themselves putting their 'CBDC distributed ledger' in a different category to 'VA blockchains' even though they are very similar in their technology

be smart. learn what regulators are categorising and think of something outside of that..

its why uber didnt use the name ubercab's  to avoid taxicab regulations

[philipma1957]

This is definitely not about one person's privacy but the importance of many. If you think about it, many people get scammed and their money has been transferred to a wallet and will be mixed or any of that "shady" "hide" stuff that you are talking about. To prevent that and have a hope to return it, it should be transparent and can be seen on the blockchain, which is the "decentralized" part of cryptocurrency. It's not just about "not hiding" but to be transparent is to let others know that you have nothing to hide.

This is not for selfish reasons, but for the many, I think.

Totally, that's should be the point of all of this stuff, there's a reason why bitcoin's got a public ledger so why hide something when a lot of people can benefit from not hiding and as you've said already, scammers are taking advantage of these features that many crypto offers, there's not a lot of people that I know that are happy or hyped up about the privacy that crypto wallets or mixers offers and I do agree with that statement, if you have nothing to hide then why be scared? No one can tamper a transaction that's already been done already and I think that if mixers and wallets that hide transactions cooperate with stuff involving money laundering and criminal activities, they might be able to keep their businesses but at the core of it all, it breaks the principle of privacy so a lot of people are still divided about this to this day. Sometimes the good of the many is what matters and in the case of this one, the people that will benefit from transparency is larger than those that won't benefit.

It is easy to say why hide a balance. But if you have 25 legit btc in your wallet worth about  1.1 million and you want to cash out a coin why must you reveal the other 24.

I am USA based I have been doing btc a long time.

If I mined a block in 2012 and I am sitting on the entire block of 50 coins cost basis of $500 USD. At ten a coin. Reported mining earnings of 500 in 2012. I am 100% legit tax compliant.

Now I pull a coin from the wallet send it to coinbase and let it sit.  I still owe no tax. but coinbase gets to see my other 49 coins.

Now a month later I cash the coin and get 45k I owe cap gains and pay it.

I did nothing wrong. But I have surrendered my legal privacy to 49 btc.

I should be able to not surrender privacy in this case.


reality is this very likely not the biggest reason to hide your balances. but it is fully legit in the usa.

[suzanne5223]

Think about those everyday moments you post online, like what you eat or who you're with. While it might seem harmless, sharing that information in real-time can reveal clues about your routines and habits, making it easier for someone to track you or invade your privacy.

In addition to being a privacy violation, the concept behind this has resulted in the shooting deaths of a few American rappers, as sharing their whereabouts and real-time activities makes them vulnerable to assailants who view their skill as a barrier to success.
Returning to cryptocurrency, this will leave investors and holders vulnerable to unscrupulous attacks.
Having said that, it is unfortunate that some people will continue to disregard their privacy unless they are taught a valuable lesson.

[franky1]

I did nothing wrong. But I have surrendered my legal privacy to 49 btc.

I should be able to not surrender privacy in this case.

years ago i split my hoard up into different pots of funds for that exact reason
short term play/trade/exit money
mid term hoarding to play the occassional market price wave
long term just hoard

dont blame the CEX that you decided to keep all coin on one UTXO/address

[arabspaceship123]

That the world we're living in. If you're going to spend some of the bitcoin you're going to tell the exchange what other coins you've got on the same address.

They're going to bring in laws for regulated exchanges but American law won't be the same as New Zealand or Mongolia. It's going to be about the country you're living so laws are going to be different. In time trying to keep some crypto swaps private's going to get restricted so we're going to lose more privacy.

It is easy to say why hide a balance. But if you have 25 legit btc in your wallet worth about  1.1 million and you want to cash out a coin why must you reveal the other 24.

I am USA based I have been doing btc a long time.

If I mined a block in 2012 and I am sitting on the entire block of 50 coins cost basis of $500 USD. At ten a coin. Reported mining earnings of 500 in 2012. I am 100% legit tax compliant.

Now I pull a coin from the wallet send it to coinbase and let it sit.  I still owe no tax. but coinbase gets to see my other 49 coins.

Now a month later I cash the coin and get 45k I owe cap gains and pay it.

I did nothing wrong. But I have surrendered my legal privacy to 49 btc.

I should be able to not surrender privacy in this case.


reality is this very likely not the biggest reason to hide your balances. but it is fully legit in the usa.

[philipma1957]

I did nothing wrong. But I have surrendered my legal privacy to 49 btc.

I should be able to not surrender privacy in this case.

years ago i split my hoard up into different pots of funds for that exact reason
short term play/trade/exit money
mid term hoarding to play the occassional market price wave
long term just hoard

dont blame the CEX that you decided to keep all coin on one UTXO/address

never said that I have a pile of coins worth millions.

But if you look at the first three or four million blocks many are not touched.

So quite a few may not be in the shape you are in.

The case for privacy for those early untouched blocks is real. But we all know they stay frozen.

[Emmanuelex]

Well, I have noticed that a lot of people just don't care about the privacy thing, as long as the Cryptocurrency or blockchain, or even whatever payment platform they are using is serving them as needed.

Another thing again I have noticed is that most people would complain about how they don't have hundred percent privacy with these companies, but at the end they still go back to these same companies. Maybe they would be all taken seriously, when they start to take themselves serious by staying away or boycotting platforms that tries to invade their privacy.

[crwth]

This is definitely not about one person's privacy but the importance of many. If you think about it, many people get scammed and their money has been transferred to a wallet and will be mixed or any of that "shady" "hide" stuff that you are talking about. To prevent that and have a hope to return it, it should be transparent and can be seen on the blockchain, which is the "decentralized" part of cryptocurrency. It's not just about "not hiding" but to be transparent is to let others know that you have nothing to hide.

This is not for selfish reasons, but for the many, I think.

Totally, that's should be the point of all of this stuff, there's a reason why bitcoin's got a public ledger so why hide something when a lot of people can benefit from not hiding and as you've said already, scammers are taking advantage of these features that many crypto offers, there's not a lot of people that I know that are happy or hyped up about the privacy that crypto wallets or mixers offers and I do agree with that statement, if you have nothing to hide then why be scared? No one can tamper a transaction that's already been done already and I think that if mixers and wallets that hide transactions cooperate with stuff involving money laundering and criminal activities, they might be able to keep their businesses but at the core of it all, it breaks the principle of privacy so a lot of people are still divided about this to this day. Sometimes the good of the many is what matters and in the case of this one, the people that will benefit from transparency is larger than those that won't benefit.

It is easy to say why hide a balance. But if you have 25 legit btc in your wallet worth about  1.1 million and you want to cash out a coin why must you reveal the other 24.

I am USA based I have been doing btc a long time.

If I mined a block in 2012 and I am sitting on the entire block of 50 coins cost basis of $500 USD. At ten a coin. Reported mining earnings of 500 in 2012. I am 100% legit tax compliant.

Now I pull a coin from the wallet send it to coinbase and let it sit.  I still owe no tax. but coinbase gets to see my other 49 coins.

Now a month later I cash the coin and get 45k I owe cap gains and pay it.

I did nothing wrong. But I have surrendered my legal privacy to 49 btc.

I should be able to not surrender privacy in this case.


reality is this very likely not the biggest reason to hide your balances. but it is fully legit in the usa.

I understood better when you discussed it like that. I agree that it's all about the balance that you have and not just focusing on the transactions. I never thought of it that way. I do agree that it's already visible to who you are sending it to, seeing the balance. Aren't there workarounds with that already? Or just the mixing or joining thing is the solution?

[Abiky]

That the world we're living in. If you're going to spend some of the bitcoin you're going to tell the exchange what other coins you've got on the same address.

They're going to bring in laws for regulated exchanges but American law won't be the same as New Zealand or Mongolia. It's going to be about the country you're living so laws are going to be different. In time trying to keep some crypto swaps private's going to get restricted so we're going to lose more privacy.

Governments are increasing their surveillance efforts with the excuse of preventing (or minimizing) as much criminal activity (money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing) as possible. But we all know their real intentions. They will ultimately abolish privacy/anonymization techniques to prevent people from getting true financial freedom. Only government officials and bankers will be able to achieve privacy.

Even though governments won't be able to shut down decentralized mixers, most people won't dare to use something that's "banned" from mainstream use. Those who are caught mixing "behind the scenes", will either face fines or jail time. It's a dark future we're heading into. So prepare yourself for the worst.

[Z-tight]

Another thing again I have noticed is that most people would complain about how they don't have hundred percent privacy with these companies, but at the end they still go back to these same companies. Maybe they would be all taken seriously, when they start to take themselves serious by staying away or boycotting platforms that tries to invade their privacy.

Platforms like centralized exchanges and services that are data farms, most people don't care about privacy or censorship, they just want BTC to pump so that they can make money, so many people in the network do not care if the government gets some form of control over the network, especially through the miners, we can see that some miners are starting to embrace censorship and by doing so they are attacking BTC and its fungibility. Only few people in the network identify this as a problem, as long as it isn't their tx's that's being censored, then they are fine, all they are concerned about is the next pump in price.

[Silver005]

There are a few reasons why people might not take their privacy seriously.
- Lack of awareness: Many people simply don't understand the importance of privacy, or don't know how to protect their personal information online.
- Convenience: People may be more likely to share their information if it makes their life easier or more convenient. For example, many people sign up for services that require them to share their personal information without fully understanding the implications.
- Misplaced trust: Some people may trust companies or organizations with their personal information without fully understanding the risks involved. This can be especially true for social media platforms, where people may

[Z-tight]

- Convenience: People may be more likely to share their information if it makes their life easier or more convenient. For example, many people sign up for services that require them to share their personal information without fully understanding the implications.

Choosing convenience over security and privacy is a quick way to lose your funds, but nevertheless so many people do it, and that's why many people lose their funds when an exchange bites the dust or is hacked, they also lose their funds when they expose their seed phrase or their device gets compromised, etc.

This is because too many people store their funds in exchanges because they think it is more convenient than self custody, people also back up their seed phrase in their email account or in their device's notepad, so it would be 'easier' for them to access it, etc. It isn't 'convenience' that matters, but security and privacy, and i wish more bitcoiners understood this.

[KiaKia]

How can anyone show people their bank account just because they want to see? Its stupid if anyone does this because you are bringing problems for yourself, even if they don't attack you to drain money from you, they can just decide to bounce on you spiritually to deal with you for showing off.

In my country I always have to pretend like I don't have anything, because this is the only way that some bad people can overlook you, thinking you are broke, you just have to pretend along and wear less casual dresses.

Like I told someone today, a rich man is not safe in the circles of many poor people, to really be safe you need to live among rich people like you, that's why in my country the rich people do have their own places that's well guided, like an estate for the rich, no one can go in there without many security men crawling up to your gut.

Bitcoin isn't that popular yet which is why many criminals are not using it in crime already but I doubt this won't be a problem in the future, so its better to keep it to yourself if you are into Bitcoin, pretend like you don't have none.

[dothebeats]

- Convenience: People may be more likely to share their information if it makes their life easier or more convenient. For example, many people sign up for services that require them to share their personal information without fully understanding the implications.

Choosing convenience over security and privacy is a quick way to lose your funds, but nevertheless so many people do it, and that's why many people lose their funds when an exchange bites the dust or is hacked, they also lose their funds when they expose their seed phrase or their device gets compromised, etc.

This is because too many people store their funds in exchanges because they think it is more convenient than self custody, people also back up their seed phrase in their email account or in their device's notepad, so it would be 'easier' for them to access it, etc. It isn't 'convenience' that matters, but security and privacy, and i wish more bitcoiners understood this.

Not only bitcoiners but hopefully normal people who have digital banks and accounts as well.

I've worked in a service desk environment for quite some time, and I know that a lot of people, including high-ranking members of the organization I support, use passwords that are too common to be guessed immediately. Most even use their work emails to visit some suspicious websites and complain that they are receiving lots of spam emails offering them something. They don't understand that they are easily targetable by a lot of malicious entities out there. Heck, if these guys are careless in handling their work data, I believe they are this way with their personal accounts as well. No mixer, or any other service or software for that matter, can help these guys unless they are properly educated.

A lot of people still ignore privacy because they believe that they can always seek help from authorities in resolving their concerns. In bitcoin and crypto, you can't do that, and you only have yourself to make sure that your property is safe and secure. I understand that mixers offer an avenue to criminals to launder money, but fiat is also used to launder money in large scale way before crypto is invented, so the hate that people give to mixers is kind of biased when the same scenario can be done with fiat money, too.

[Silberman]

- Convenience: People may be more likely to share their information if it makes their life easier or more convenient. For example, many people sign up for services that require them to share their personal information without fully understanding the implications.

Choosing convenience over security and privacy is a quick way to lose your funds, but nevertheless so many people do it, and that's why many people lose their funds when an exchange bites the dust or is hacked, they also lose their funds when they expose their seed phrase or their device gets compromised, etc.

This is because too many people store their funds in exchanges because they think it is more convenient than self custody, people also back up their seed phrase in their email account or in their device's notepad, so it would be 'easier' for them to access it, etc. It isn't 'convenience' that matters, but security and privacy, and i wish more bitcoiners understood this.

This is will be a very difficult trend to overcome, over the last decades there has been a very strong push for more convenient services, and now you can acquire almost anything you can imagine by just using your smartphone, and in such environment it is not easy to convince people that they need to let go of some of that convenience so they can attain a higher level of security and privacy, especially when many people feel they do not really have anything to hide.

[Abiky]

Platforms like centralized exchanges and services that are data farms, most people don't care about privacy or censorship, they just want BTC to pump so that they can make money, so many people in the network do not care if the government gets some form of control over the network, especially through the miners, we can see that some miners are starting to embrace censorship and by doing so they are attacking BTC and its fungibility. Only few people in the network identify this as a problem, as long as it isn't their tx's that's being censored, then they are fine, all they are concerned about is the next pump in price.

That's the problem. A lot of centralized services are dominating crypto and the Internet as we speak. Even when some of these services are KYC-free, they still collect your data by looking into your browsing habits (eg: Facebook). People won't care about privacy as long as they get convenience in return.

With governments hunting down anything that provides privacy/anonymity, the days of personal freedom are over. We'll be heading into a future where surveillance states will dominate the world. Everything you do will be known by the government. There won't be hope if we don't defend our right to privacy. Who knows what surprises we'll find in the long run? 

[Z-tight]

and in such environment it is not easy to convince people that they need to let go of some of that convenience so they can attain a higher level of security and privacy, especially when many people feel they do not really have anything to hide.

I am not trying to convince anyone, but it is good for people who want to use BTC to understand that it is different from fiat and centralized banks, some people try to use BTC like they are using their fiat bank, they store funds in centralized exchanges, they allow centralized exchanges to control their keys and use their money for fractional reserve scam. I think for such people it may be better for them to go on using fiat 'conveniently', than using BTC in that way, because they would probably lose their funds along the line and blame the network.

[GbitG]

and in such environment it is not easy to convince people that they need to let go of some of that convenience so they can attain a higher level of security and privacy, especially when many people feel they do not really have anything to hide.

I am not trying to convince anyone, but it is good for people who want to use BTC to understand that it is different from fiat and centralized banks, some people try to use BTC like they are using their fiat bank, they store funds in centralized exchanges, they allow centralized exchanges to control their keys and use their money for fractional reserve scam. I think for such people it may be better for them to go on using fiat 'conveniently', than using BTC in that way, because they would probably lose their funds along the line and blame the network.

That's dope, Your thoughts regarding privacy make some sense. That people take their funds and keep them in the exchange, and they say that we use the decentralized ecosystem, but according to you, they keep their assets like fiat currency and banking, which is a big stupidity that you are also BTC holders. And if he is also placed in the centralized exchange, then, in my opinion, there can be no more foolishness than this; his example is like making a cat a watchman for meat. Scammers can also steal your funds from exchanges. So it means to take care of yourself. If you have a lot of money, then keeping it in a safe place is called the right privilege.

It means protecting privacy and using hardware wallets instead of centralized exchanges. Exchanges should not be trusted; even if it's Binance, they can't protect your funds either from themselves or from hackers, because just by being online, you can lose your funds if your security arrangements are not strong.