
Why CoinDesk Respects Pseudonymity: A Stand Against Doxxing - apsec112
https://www.coindesk.com/why-coindesk-respects-pseudonymity-a-stand-against-doxxing
======
colechristensen
I intentionally reveal my identity on purpose for various reasons. It isn't
unreasonable to believe that at some point there will be negative consequences
for some thoughtless, unreasonable, or unpopular remark; maybe there already
has been and I just don't know about it.

There is power and privilege in the ability to do this, and I like to think
that one person openly being their flawed self in public might help a tiny bit
push society towards accepting that everybody is flawed and everybody has done
things which aren't socially acceptable to some whether or not they would
continue defend every action in their past.

If I was getting death threats or had anything in particular. worth defending,
I might change my behavior; but for now nothing I write really matters except
maybe to a few people who read it.

~~~
warent
I think I used to feel the same way, but over time came to understand that a
problem which arises is missing context and drawing conclusions from
incomplete information.

If you're sharing a sensitive piece of information about yourself with someone
who already knows you well, then they have the benefit of all the prior
context of knowing who you are, plus they can ask questions for clarification
if needed.

Contrast this with sharing sensitive information about yourself on the web.
Even if there are numerous other articles that you have published to provide
context, someone who doesn't know you can easily take that single piece of
sensitive information and completely misunderstand it, because frankly it's
impossible to get to know everyone intimately enough to have all the
supporting information.

You propose that this openness might help push society toward accepting that
humans are flawed and have done things which are not socially acceptable. The
problem is that behavior which is not socially acceptable can easily be
interpreted as dysfunctional or outright anti-social without knowing who you
are. Another example, let's say you have made a mistake in the past (as all
humans have) and genuinely feel remorseful and apologetic. The remorse and
apology cannot be known to be genuine except by yourself and the people
closest to you.

That's why I feel it is actually vital to only share sensitive information
with people who have enough context and information to properly understand and
integrate it.

~~~
colechristensen
The basic problem is exactly "missing context and drawing conclusions from
incomplete information" and that every person could fall victim to that sort
of attack and misunderstanding.

You can try to defend against it by hiding from it, or you can try to defend
against it by overwhelming it to show that everybody is "guilty" of one thing
or another. It is entirely reasonable to have good justifications for hiding,
but it is also something to strive for, a life situation where you don't have
to care about idiots and pitchforks.

What I think is vital is convincing everyone that a single piece of context-
free information does not demonstrate the value of a person's entire life.

~~~
odessacubbage
unfortunately there's simply too much to be gained by rejecting context and
willfully assuming the worst possible intent or even fabricating it; 'x/y/z is
a dogwhistle'. live and let live does not seem to be a value that has been
retained by secular moralism. i'd gladly be incorrect if it meant we could
live in your world, that doesn't seem likely anytime soon though.

~~~
bsder
> live and let live does not seem to be a value that has been retained by
> secular moralism

"Live and let live" is cool until someone gives you the pointy end of the
stick.

At that point, you want a way to fight back.

~~~
odessacubbage
and if either your next of kin or theirs feels raw about the outcome of that
fight? live and let live is a vital principle or we all wind up on the pointy
end of one stick or another.

~~~
bsder
"Live and let live" is about allowing people to do what they want _as long as_
it doesn't interfere with _me_.

Do you want have sex with men or women? Not my problem. Live and let live.

Do you want to do drugs? Also not my problem. Live and let live.

Do you want to shoot my dog? _MY_ problem. Live and let live doesn't apply.

Once you impinge on _my_ freedom of action, "live and let live" is trumped by
the needs of justice and fairness.

"Live and let live" is _NOT_ a license for you trample over me with impunity.

------
dang
There were three follow-up articles to the big thread
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23610416](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23610416))
on the front page just now. Three is too many. The other two are:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23617887](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23617887)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23621466](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23621466)

Which is best?

~~~
lowkeynthorough
This one seems most interesting: (Gary Weiss doxxes the NYT reporter who
threatened to doxx)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23635818](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23635818)

------
jimbob45
On a more practical note, why is the NYT insisting on their idiotic policy? If
you want to make sure no one ever speaks on the record to your newspaper ever
again, ham-fisted policies like this are a great choice.

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bitxbitxbitcoin
Good on them. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts would be the ones to understand and
champion the value of pseudonymity.

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fierarul
I find this kinda amusing since CoinDesk as a media site might be ok but the
whole space of coin sellers are super not into pseudonimity.

Last I looked you needed to provide bank-level identification to do anything
while, you know, not dealing with a bank.

Come to think of it, Paypal requires less identification than any site
touching coins and for Europe they _are_ a bank in Luxembourg.

~~~
jefftk
This generally comes from
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_your_customer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_your_customer)
legal requirements, for preventing money laundering.

~~~
fierarul
Does this not apply to Paypal? Because I read some ridiculous requirements on
coin sites, such as sending scans of your national IDs or even doing videos of
yourself.

All the while Paypal only has name and address and perhaps a credit card
number.

Seems to me coin sites are either smothered in red tape or so afraid they go
above and beyond the legal requirements.

~~~
tootahe45
In my experience, it does apply to paypal, except they wait until you put a
minimum amount into your account and then lock it pending KYC. This basically
forces you to provide KYC documents (or say good bye to your money). This is
likely so they can avoid the 99% churn rate they'd get if they KYC'ed people
on registration, IMO there should be a law against this practice or just fix
draconian KYC laws. Skrill did the same with ID required, except i still
cannot access my $900 2 years later because the KYC is fully automated.

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stevebmark
What the hell is this? Why does it exist (I don't know anything about the
context) and why does an anti-dox article share the full name, job title,
website, and backstory of someone who was doxxed?

~~~
gog-ma-gog
Scott Alexander is his pseudonym, which he freely shares, and he blogs about
his psychiatry work.

~~~
kristianp
Ah, that wasn't clear from the article (at least to some, including me).

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RichardHeart
Privacy is a human right. It's particularly important to cryptocurrency fans,
as they get swatted, murdered or tortured occasionally: Swatting:
[https://www.coindesk.com/reflections-on-a-swatting-one-
bitco...](https://www.coindesk.com/reflections-on-a-swatting-one-bitcoin-
engineers-private-security-battle) Murder: [https://toshitimes.com/norwegian-
man-murdered-after-cashing-...](https://toshitimes.com/norwegian-man-murdered-
after-cashing-out-a-large-bitcoin-sum/) Torture:
[https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-
tech/ne...](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-
tech/news/bitcoin-robbery-torture-cryptocurrency-netherlands-a8807986.html)
(There's more instances, but you get the idea.)

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jamespitts
Even though many of us understand the issues around pseudonymity in our
various tech and gamer scenes, this is a generational flash-point in general
society.

------
phantom784
Original post: [https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/22/nyt-is-threatening-
my-...](https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/22/nyt-is-threatening-my-safety-by-
revealing-my-real-name-so-i-am-deleting-the-blog/)

