An anonymous Hushmail user wrote:
>Since when does scrambling my IP address have anything to do w/
>my privacy? IP addresses are almost never personally identifying,
>since (a) most corporate users are coming from behind a firewall,
>(b) most consumers have a dynamic DHCP address anyway and (c) in
>a worst case scenario, I can always switch my IP address..
I used to own an ISP. Typically, when I received a complaint about traffic
originating from my system, I would 1) determine the IP address which was the
source of the problem, and 2) examine the Portmaster logs to determine who was
on that port at that time.
>I've worked in customer analytics at various, significant e-commerce
>Web operations, and the worst thing companies do w/ this info is
>use it to debug their site operations
I agree that corporate misuse of personal information is over-hyped. Government
misuse is not though. There are thousands of laws on the books that would allow
the government to haul you off to jail (or shoot you if you resist), even if you
have not hurt or cheated anyone. This is not an issue of "shit, now Bank B
knows that I stiffed Bank A for that loan." It's about having your entire life
destroyed because of some stupid law. We are all criminals. Of the 1.2 million
lines of federal code, I'm sure there are some applicable to you.
On the other hand, "those evil corporations" plays well to the
media-indoctrinated masses, and any successful privacy protection company will
need to play that card in their advertising plan.
>an economy based on "nyms" is a pipe dream. No human has ever purchased
>a car, or purchased a home, or taken out a loan, or started a business,
>or gotten a job by using an anonymous "nym".
I have started a business, received payment for contract work, purchased a car,
and registered a domain, all anonymously. Registering the car anonymously is
the tricky part. :)
>Any significant economic
>transaction, in both the real world and the virtual, requires accountability,
>and accountability is only engendered through identity, not anonymity.
There are varying levels of identification required for different types of
transactions. If I go to the corner store to buy a gallon of milk, why does the
proprietor need to know who I am? He only needs to know that my money is good,
or that it is highly likely that my money is good. The larger the transaction
the higher must be the probability that the money is good.
I often buy money orders anonymously. If the amount is small, say under $20,
the clerk makes little attempt to verify the authenticity of the cash. If I get
a money order for $500, the clerk examines each twenty very carefully.
On the other hand, if you want to borrow money from me, I will want to know your
real name and address so I can come and slice your fingers off if you don't pay
me back. :) In the future, there will be companies who will underwrite digital
transactions based on a nym's reputation.
If the seller is convinced of the legitimacy of the funds and the buyer is
convinced of the quality of the goods, what additional identification needs to
take place?
>it seems a more appropriate use of cryptography to enhance privacy
>would be to make sure that any transaction I partake in is REALLY
>done by me.
That is called authentication, and it is indeed an important use of
cryptography. However, it is seldom necessary to authenticate all the way into
meatspace. It is possible using digital cash protocols to verify with an
extremely high degree of certainty that 1) the cash you're spending is good and
will clear the issuing institution, and 2) the cash is yours and not stolen from
someone else. What difference does it make if "you" are a real person or a nym
in this case?
>privacy IS NOT synonymous w/ anonymity
No, but anonymity is an effective tool to guarantee privacy. I'm wearing grey
underwear today. That's very private information. But who is Patrick Henry?
--PH
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