Thread by @dergigi

In defense of nyms.

A thread 👇

There is a reason why Satoshi chose to stay pseudonymous. He knew what he was getting into. He knew he had to disappear if his project would be moderately successful. It is impossible to disappear if everyone has your real identity.

https://twitter.com/btc_quotes/status/1367022163262398468?s=20

#Bitcoin was designed with pseudonymity in mind. You don't need a government ID to use it. You don't need a face. You don't need a name. All you need is the ability to produce a valid signature. This is a feature, not a bug.

dergigi.com/2020/07/21/tru…

Regarding showing your face: I consider myself a privacy advocate, and I don't think that showing your face or using your real name should be the norm online. The internet is forever. Identity is prismatic and can be fleeting.

https://twitter.com/dergigi/status/1142741756779401217

We must not forget that we live in a world with superhuman facial recognition technology that is available to all. If you have my face, you have my identity forever. Reverse facial search exists. FindClone, FindFace, PimEyes & Co. will only get better.

bellingcat.com/resources/how-…

While consumer products are very powerful already, they don't come close to what the government can do. A picture of your face can reveal everything about you. Your past, your present, your future.

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1218561200243560448?s=20

Biometrics (fingerprints, your face, your gate, your eyes and iris patterns, your speech patterns) are usernames, not passwords. Everyone has access to them. They are not secret. You can copy and reproduce them.

https://twitter.com/dergigi/status/1310325509897818116?s=20

It's not only hackers that reproduce fingerprints. Law enforcement has been doing it for many years now. Consider this a friendly reminder to disable biometric unlocks when traveling.

theverge.com/2016/7/21/1224…

Having all the faces and all the identities out in the open is not healthy for a society. If you want to see what kind of dystopian future we are potentially headed towards, just look at China. Here is an older report from 2017:

scmp.com/news/china/soc…

Another, more comprehensive one, from 2018. In the last couple of years, these databases only got bigger. Surveillance got worse. You can't escape it. Comply, or you will lose your freedoms.

ft.com/content/2182ee…

Speaking "as someone" filters your speech. You speak in part for your role. You are at risk of tarnishing your reputation, and by extension, all the things your role stands for: your organization, your company, your friends, your family. Speaking freely requires anonymity.

I still love the internet, with all its flaws and rough edges. I love it in part because discourse is often raw and unfiltered, and identity can be fleeting. I love it because it is a battle of ideas, not people or faces or identities. On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Privacy is a human right, or, as some people say: privacy is a human fight. We must not give up our privacy.

I am a nym because True Names are not required. I use an avatar because I want only my friends to recognize my face, not the whole world.

I want people to know that privacy is not dead. Be public if you truly want to be. Otherwise, I would urge you to think twice about revealing your identity by default. Data is forever. You can't undoxx yourself.

"Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world."

Use the tools. Protect your identity. Listen to people like @Diverter_NoKYC.

Every step towards more privacy is a step in the right direction.

/fin

diverter.hostyourown.tools/protecting-you…