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We have known how to do untraceable* transactions [0] since 1982. There has now been thirty years of cryptographic research building on these results. The reas
by EthanHeilman 8y ago
We have known how to do untraceable* transactions [0] since 1982. There has now been thirty years of cryptographic research building on these results. The reason it hasn't happened is not because we can't do it but because governments resist the additional privacy protections.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecash
* - For some values of untracable. The privacy provided by ecash is in theory less than cash provides in practice, but certainly a massive privacy improvement over credit cards.
In theory cash provides less privacy than ecash since stores could record the serial numbers on cash. However in practice they don't and thus cash in practice provides quite a bit of privacy.
- tjoff 8y agoYeah, politically unrealistic is what I meant.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- reaperducer 8y agoWe have known how to do untraceable transactions [0] since 1982.* We have known how to do untraceable transactions since 3,000 BC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_money https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_money
- Aeolun 8y agoEven if they store the serial numbers on cash, there is no name linked to those numbers without you also using something like a store/coupon card.
- EthanHeilman 8y agoIn theory what could be done is (not saying anyone does this): 1. When you get cash from an ATM or Bank they record the serial numbers of the cash they gave you and attach it to your identity. 2. When you spend those funds at a store they record what you bought and the serial numbers of the cash you paid with and the serial numbers of the bills you received as change. The government could then build a graph of spends attached to your identity. With high probability they could trace how you spent that money. One problem they would run into is if you gave or received cash from a friend. However while this might cause the tracing procedure to make some errors, it would also allow it to, in some cases, infer which of your friends you exchange cash with. In any realistic scenario the government would also be intersecting this graph of spends with additional information such as license plate readers, RFID data from public transit, facial recognition,cell tower geolocation, etc... Serial number tracing would be just one data source. Probably your best bet for privacy here would be pay people begging for money to swap bills with you e.g. exchanging a twenty dollar bill for a ten dollar bill.