(No Subject)

[Declan McCullagh]

On Tue, Dec 09, 2003 at 12:47:27AM +0100, edo wrote:
> As far as I'm concerned, true anonymity in finacial affairs (and
> secure communication channels) is the only real method open to
> peacefully combat the all seeing [etc.]

We have anonymity in Web browsing (more or less, thanks to Lance &
co). It's not NSA-proof, but it's probably subpoena-proof.

We have anonymity in email thanks to remailers (to the extent they're
still around).

We have anonymity in publishing, and to some extent, document
retrieval, thanks to Freenet.

We have anonymity in one-way communications/dead drops thanks to
remailers gatewayed to Usenet newsgroups (if any still even do that).

We do not have anonymity in financial transactions. In fact, we have
less anonymity than we did a decade ago, thanks to amendments to the
Bank Secrecy Act and the USA Patriot Act. And the OECD's efforts in
this area too. Instead of a Chaum or Brands payment system, we ended
up with ebay/Paypal -- which has made clear its policy of intimate
cooperation with police.

Strong anonymity in online financial transactions is something like a
linchpin in deploying better strong anonymity solutions in other areas
because people like to get paid for developing and maintaining such
systems, especially if they are in any way controversial. The problem
IMHO is obtaining an interface with the banking/financial system,
probably the most-regulated industry in the U.S.

-Declan