diff --git a/content/docs/privacy/Commerce.md b/content/docs/privacy/Commerce.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..83dd3a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/docs/privacy/Commerce.md @@ -0,0 +1,209 @@ +## Commerce + +Imagine you need to pick up something sensitive from a pharmacy. Maybe +pregnancy tests, intimate lubricant, laxitaves, hemorrhoid cream. Maybe you and +your SO wanted to try something new and bought something special from an adult +store. Maybe you just have one secluded coffee shop where no one you know goes, +so you can have some time in your own head. + +In all of these, the go-to method of payment is a Visa or Mastercard issued by +a bank or a line of credit tied to your name. Every barcode scanned goes into +a central database of the vendor, and/or a third party. Your bank also gets a +copy of how much you spent, along with the time and location. + +These companies all sell data into common dossiers with all the plain text +information they legally can, and auction it off. In cases where pesky data +privacy laws get in the way of selling data directly, they process it first. +Your data goes into advanced prediction engines to make guesses about your +alcohol consumption, diet, religion, political leanings, and what the most +effective ways to manipulate you are. These engines power ad networks +that quite literally sell changes in your behavior as a service. + +Let's say for a moment you don't care about any of that. Let's say you trust +Google, Apple, Stripe, Visa, etc would never do anything not in your best +interest and exist only to make your life easier as public servants. Even in +that fictional world, the reality would remain that humans still write the code +that power all of those systems, and every type of company from power plants, +to major banks, to big box stores all get hacked via security oversights, or +negligence. + +Now your favorite coffee shop, sex store purchases, pharmacy purchases, +charitable donations, and the daycare you drop your kids off at are all public. + +Even if the entity itself does not get hacked, your accounts might be. Banks +will literally hand control of your account over to anyone that asks real +nicely with a social security number they figured out on their own from public +records. If you were born before 2011 in the USA your SSN is based on the +hospital you were born in and those prefixes are public. Even if you were born +after 2011, companies that ask for your SSN get hacked frequently and they are +sold online. + +In the United States alone, one out of three pepole experience identity theft +at least once in their lifetimes. Are you feeling lucky? + +Protecting the value you work hard to build in this world, and the information +about how you spend it, is one of the most important self defense tactics you +can take in a world where people are more likely to rob you with a phone call +than a knive in a dark alley. + +In this chapter we will explore alternatives to Venmo, Cashapp, Paypal, and +credit cards that protect you from those that wish to hurt you for profit. + +### Cash + +Almost no one uses cash anymore, and there are good reasons for that, but there +are also really important and less obvious reasons we should push through the +drawbacks and use cash everywhere we can. + +#### Why cash sucks + +* Checking out often takes longer + * It confuses younger generations at checkout counters. +* It requires going to ATMs and Banks frequently to get more of it out +* If you lose it or it is stolen, it is gone forever +* It requires doing math all the time +* Carrying around change is a pain + * If it bothers you, drop it in the tip jar. + +#### Why you should use it anyway. + +* It requires doing math all the time + * You will get fast at doing math in your head and it will improve your life. +* It puts limits on how much you can spend + * And in turn makes you aware of how much you are spending +* It saves businesses 5% in transaction processing fees + * Ask the owners of local small businesses. Most prefer cash. + * Paypal charges up to 5% and Square is 3.5%+ on every transaction. +* It avoids any record of who you are, or what you purchased. + * Records that don't exist don't get stolen or sold +* You can pay your bill and leave any time at a restaurant + * It is socially acceptable to drop cash and leave. Let them keep the change. +* You can get priority service at bars. + * Give them a $5 on the first drink and they will take care of you all night + +#### When cash isn't accepted? + +Some parking systems and self-checkouts only take cards. Avoid these when you +can, but sometimes you can't. In these cases having visa gift cards around +you bought anonymously with cash will do the job almost anywhere. + +### Bitcoin + +Many readers cringe the moment they saw this as a title, and there are some +real drawbacks of Bitcoin, but there are also a number of cases where it is the +most private, practical, and green way to make a purchase while protecting your +privacy. + +If you are reading this, you are probably not sold on using Bitcoin as an +actual currency yet, but we hope to make a fair case for the pros and cons. + +Other readers here are screaming "What about Monero, ZCash, and X random coin". + +Well, yes, those exist and have many noteworthy advantages but Bitcoin is +currently the only cryptoasset with any useful level of adoption in commerce. +If you are aware of a niche vendor that accepts Monero, then you don't need us +to tell you that is a great privacy option. + +#### Why people think Bitcoin sucks + +##### "It uses a lot of energy" + + * Lightning network already enables near zero energy transactions + * These transactions are peer to peer and invisible to the Bitcoin network + * Mining will still use energy, though the network rewards cheapest KW/h. + * All miners compete for profitability at small margins over energy cost + * It will soon be impractical to generate mining profits on fossil fuels + * On track for Bitcoin mining using 70% renewables by 2030 + * It uses dramatically less than mining Gold today + * Gold mining by design cannot use renewables + +##### "It is a pyramid scheme" + * First, let's define a pyramid scheme: + * Subordinate investors pay earnings to a higher level investor + * The scheme ends when higher levels "cash out" and abandon subordinates + * Now, let's define investment + * You believe something will succeed before the general public and buy it + * You end up being right, and the public does in fact increase demand + * You can choose to sell for more than your original purchase price + * Bitcoin functions as both a currency, and a speculative investment + * No central party controls the supply of Bitcoin + * It is true that early buyers that took more risk, did make a lot of profit + * If Bitcoin is a pyramid scheme, then so are stocks and gold. + +##### "It has no intrinsic value" + + * Also known as: "Gold is useful, unlike bitcoin" + * Bitcoin and Gold both have niche uses, but majority use is value storage + * 92% of gold use is for value storage and jewelry + +##### "Only the rich can afford a Bitcoin" + + * You don't need to buy a whole Bitcoin. You can buy $5 worth if you like. +* It is volatile + * So are stocks, as anyone owning TSLA or TWTR can attest. + * Bitcoin has wildly outpreformed the dollar for over a decade. + * It will never inflate by design, unlike the 8%+ annual loss in USD + * Inflation is a major source of economic pain and inequality. + * See: https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ + +##### "It is used for terrorism, fraud, and money laundering" + + * Fiat currency is used even more often for the same things. + * Highways are used for human trafficking. + * The internet is used to spread child porn. + * Cooking knives are used to murder people. + * A tool can be used for both constructive and destructive purposes. + +#### "You are screwed if it gets lost or stolen" + + * If you can avoid losing country identity documents, you can store BTC. + * You can store your bitcoin wallet: + * In your brain + * On paper as 24 words + * In an NFC ring, or implant + * Duplicated across sheets of paper spread across many locations + * "sharded" requiring paper from multiple locations to be combined + * You can share access with people you trust + * Multi-sig wallets allow multiple people to share wallet access + * You can permit spending only if only one or multiple parties agree. + * Agreement of a majority of friends could be + +#### "It has no privacy because all exchanges do KYC/AML." + + * You can trade Bitcoin for Monero then for Bitcoin again for high privacy. + * You can buy from an ATM or a peer-to-peer source instead + * You can have employers, clients, and friends settle debts with you in BTC. + +#### Why Bitcoin /actually/ sucks + +* Most popular storage options have terrible security +* Only the very well informed can avoid falling prey to thieves and scammers +* Most secure storage options have a steep learning curve +* Bitcoin ATMs are only common in major metropolitan areas +* Not many businesses accept it yet +* Any government could shut it down if they really wanted to +* It is written in a language that make security mistakes easy +* There is very little implementation diversity +* Most nodes are deployed with terrible security practices +* Most nodes are slow to apply upgrades and patches + +#### Why you should use it anyway + +* Many online vendors allow only Paypal or Bitcoin. + * Bitcoin is normally lower fees and substantially more private + * Option for much stronger privacy when traded for Monero and back to Bitcoin +* Anonymously purchased BTC can preserve your privacy when spending. +* You can hide it much more easily than cash + * A real problem in developing countries or for homeless individuals. +* Buying incrementally with dollar cost averaging beats savings accounts. + * Any deflationary asset in demand is better to hold than USD + * Bitcoin can be directly spent or converted to USD when required quickly + * Modern savings accounts make negative interest when considering inflation + * Bitcoin is deflationary by design and not vulnerable to this problem +* Governments can't easily seize a wallet stored in your brain. + * A false court accusation can't get your wallet frozen or drained +* No one can easily prove you even have a self custodial Bitcoin wallet. +* Properly stored Bitcoin can't be stolen by identity theft + * Proper storage: + * Checking: Mobile phone app with amount you can afford to lose + * Savings: Multisig "cold wallet" using hardware wallet devices diff --git a/content/docs/privacy/index.md b/content/docs/privacy/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd25622 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/docs/privacy/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@ +# Privacy + +## Intro + +This document seeks to outline best practices for privacy and where possible, +anonymity, in our day to day life in our present world where surveillance +capitalisim and app culture are the default. + +## Communication + +## Transportation + +## Discoverability + +## Commerce