Thread by @leah_cb

“If you’re not doing anything dodgy, why are you so resistant to KYC and AML?”

1/ I wouldn’t be surprised if this was said at a banking convention. But no, it was a satellite event on the sidelines of @token2049 in Singapore.

And the panel was titled “DeFi adoption across Asia.”

It really ticked me off and I wrote about it here:

https://twitter.com/CoinDesk/status/1597364211218370560?s=20&t=00hZroHy_Dvv-VAlRroYIw

2/ For years, the #crypto industry has mulled on how to avoid the technology being exploited for nefarious means while staying true to our community’s core ethos of privacy and decentralization.

cc @V20_summit @FATFNews @CoinDesk
coindesk.com/inside-the-osa…

3/ But #KYC - as a tool to stop bad guys - is known to be stupidly ineffective, and the majority of financial crime still goes through trad #banking anyway.

cc @stephanlivera @ronaldpol
stephanlivera.com/episode/318/

4/ Meanwhile, public blockchains are transparent & immutable, making it easier for law enforcement to track crime. Paired w/ privacy tech like ZK proofs, you could do a much better job balancing the right-to-know w/ the right-to-privacy.

cc @mikejcasey coindesk.com/layer2/2022/02…

5/ In any case, forcing decades-old #KYC rules onto #crypto today is like taking something that was built for a horse and cart and retrofitting it to a rocket ship…

As I wrote in an earlier op-ed for @CoinDesk:
coindesk.com/layer2/2022/02…

6/ Privacy aficionados are often painted as conspiracy theorists, tin foil hat-wearing crazies, and paranoid gun fanatics.

rollingstone.com/culture/cultur…

7/ But publicly guilting/shaming people into revealing their private information is a method of social control. From there, it’s a slippery slope into a dystopian surveillance state.

theatlantic.com/international/…

8/ Referring to edge cases to prove KYC’s failings only reiterates that ppl who avoid it must be marginalized.

Conversely, if you’re an upstanding citizen w/ a govt-ID + bank account in a politically/economically stable, democratic country, privacy needn’t be your top priority.

9/ @NeerajKA’s recent guest post for @BanklessHQ reminded me of this. In it, he makes a case for privacy tools such as @TornadoCash by demonstrating how “crypto privacy is the difference between life and death” for “those who live in authoritarianism.”

newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/crypto-priva…

10/ These include protestors in Belarus & Nigeria, Putin’s opposition in Russia, resistance in Myanmar, sanctioned Afghanis, a Chinese dissident artist evading censorship & women at risk of being unable to access abortion in the US.

cc @baidakova
coindesk.com/policy/2020/09…

11/ But rattling off all these Orwellian instances where privacy is essential implies that privacy is non-essential for those without an extreme reason to avail it.

Further, focusing on a person’s reasons for privacy is a form of doxxing in itself.

12/ It suggests that privacy-preservation exists on a bell curve. At one end, criminals. At the other, freedom fighters resisting oppression. But both are unlawful, even if the laws in question are draconian or unjust.

And neither is a relatable experience for normies.

13/ Most pro-privacy content is preaching to the converted. This is why movies like @IdentityThief are needed (starring @batemanjason @melissamccarthy) to demonstrate the sensitivity of personal data, how it is stolen/misused + ramifications for victims.

14/ We’re seeing this play out IRL rn in Australia, where at least 12 million Australians have had their data exposed by hackers in recent months.

abc.net.au/news/2022-11-2…

15/ The @Optus hack exposed the name, DOB, email, driver's licence, Medicare card and passport numbers.

It has left MILLIONS of “normal, everyday” Australians wondering WTF happens next.

9news.com.au/national/optus…

16/ this. fucking. headline. says. it. all.

cc @DLLabs @financialreview afr.com/technology/opt…

17/ If we want privacy to be default on every platform, we need to do a better job explaining how/why it is a basic human right for EVERYONE.

Privacy preservation is not “dodgy” and no one should need an excuse to protect their identity.

cc @amnesty
amnesty.org/en/latest/camp…