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for example, i can send postal mail with high confidence of anonymity, and can make anonymous phone calls (with care, e.g., by using phone booths and moving around).

What about that little old ladie that watches the PO Box and Phone Booth from her window? What about the postman who sees you place the letter in the mailbox?

like i said, with care. just as i have to be careful that my sys admin isn't snoopy. but that's not my point. if you do exercise care, you can send anonymous mail, just like you can communicate anonymously with other media (if you are careful). remailers institutionalize anonymity, nothing more.

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privacy and honesty are orthogonal.

I've often accidentially overheard things I wasn't suppost to. If people were totally honest, we wouldn't need such good encryption...

if your point is that dishonesty makes privacy necessary, i agree. but i do *not* agree that total honesty makes privacy unnecessary. peter