They were given a legal court order for the data from the Swiss authorities, where they are based. What else would they do?
It suck’s that this is the world we live in but if this person wanted to remain truly anonymous, they should have paid with cash (which Proton accepts).
The court order was the real baffling issue here. The link of "this email is probably linked to the one protestor who vandalized the training center" is spurious.
Yeah. And mobilizing an international police force because of some graffiti is a crazy overreaction. The police are losing their mind over this Cop City thing.
Payments are kind of the weak link in any privacy-focused operation I've seen. Like whatever precautions you take; no logging, E2EE, etc your users will eventually need to pay money, and that will typically be done through the most auditable system in existence.
Wouldn't a government authority still be able to at least track the actual bill back to your general area through their serial numbers? It obviously doesn't go straight back to you but it's something
I worked at the branch level at a bank a while back and the bill serials were basically folly unless somebody's spending them all at one time or in nearby one another. Maybe things have changed, but the rate at which bills are scanned for their serials is likely too low to make tracing effective.
At the bank, it was those exploding dye packs that really nailed the perps ;).
I have no clue how much they track about where each batch of bills go, but bills can travel all over the country thanks to people taking them on trips. If they get cash via cashback at stores, it could originate from quite literally anywhere. And extra paranoid people can always make a point to only pick up cash from ATMs far away from their home. I mainly hear about serial numbers being useful in identifying bills from bank heists or other high-stakes crimes like the D.B. Cooper plane hijacking, since they'd KNOW the most recent step of the bill's history was the theft.
To my knowledge, most post carriers don't take cash. Both for anti-money laundering purposes, and because of the envelopes mysteriously going missing on the way.
I've received and sent birthday cards with cash. I think the only thing is you can't make a claim if it is lost. Maybe large amounts of cash are different, but a Proton subscription is around 50-100 usd, so not a fat envelope of cash.
And it's definitely a crime of opportunity; a situation where the cash can be seen or guessed at from the outside makes it easy for someone to pocket it. In a stiffer envelope that doesn't give away its contents? No one would think twice.
I think mail carriers will generally take any envelopes in a mailbox without closely checking it. I once mailed $40 cash to a hobbyist doll maker who didn't have digital payment options. Just put it in an envelope with their address in our mailbox. We may have used a stiff envelope or had a letter wrapped around it so it wasn't obviously just cash (this was ten years ago, so can't remember if we did anything special), but in any event, there were no problems.
JXM | a day ago
They were given a legal court order for the data from the Swiss authorities, where they are based. What else would they do?
It suck’s that this is the world we live in but if this person wanted to remain truly anonymous, they should have paid with cash (which Proton accepts).
raze2012 | 5 hours ago
The court order was the real baffling issue here. The link of "this email is probably linked to the one protestor who vandalized the training center" is spurious.
JXM | 4 hours ago
Yeah. And mobilizing an international police force because of some graffiti is a crazy overreaction. The police are losing their mind over this Cop City thing.
donn | a day ago
Payments are kind of the weak link in any privacy-focused operation I've seen. Like whatever precautions you take; no logging, E2EE, etc your users will eventually need to pay money, and that will typically be done through the most auditable system in existence.
teaearlgraycold | a day ago
Mullvad accepts envelopes of cash with just your account number on them.
Deely | 20 hours ago
Protonmail accepts cach too.
artvandelay | a day ago
Wouldn't a government authority still be able to at least track the actual bill back to your general area through their serial numbers? It obviously doesn't go straight back to you but it's something
teaearlgraycold | a day ago
You can use bitcoin as well. But I really doubt bill serials would do much.
BuckWylde | 14 hours ago
Maybe they should accept Target gift cards as payment.
kingofsnake | 7 hours ago
I worked at the branch level at a bank a while back and the bill serials were basically folly unless somebody's spending them all at one time or in nearby one another. Maybe things have changed, but the rate at which bills are scanned for their serials is likely too low to make tracing effective.
At the bank, it was those exploding dye packs that really nailed the perps ;).
CannibalisticApple | 23 hours ago
I have no clue how much they track about where each batch of bills go, but bills can travel all over the country thanks to people taking them on trips. If they get cash via cashback at stores, it could originate from quite literally anywhere. And extra paranoid people can always make a point to only pick up cash from ATMs far away from their home. I mainly hear about serial numbers being useful in identifying bills from bank heists or other high-stakes crimes like the D.B. Cooper plane hijacking, since they'd KNOW the most recent step of the bill's history was the theft.
RheingoldRiver | a day ago
https://archive.is/cGvKG
Hollow | 16 hours ago
To my knowledge, most post carriers don't take cash. Both for anti-money laundering purposes, and because of the envelopes mysteriously going missing on the way.
ahatlikethat | 11 hours ago
I've received and sent birthday cards with cash. I think the only thing is you can't make a claim if it is lost. Maybe large amounts of cash are different, but a Proton subscription is around 50-100 usd, so not a fat envelope of cash.
MimicSquid | 11 hours ago
And it's definitely a crime of opportunity; a situation where the cash can be seen or guessed at from the outside makes it easy for someone to pocket it. In a stiffer envelope that doesn't give away its contents? No one would think twice.
CannibalisticApple | 3 hours ago
I think mail carriers will generally take any envelopes in a mailbox without closely checking it. I once mailed $40 cash to a hobbyist doll maker who didn't have digital payment options. Just put it in an envelope with their address in our mailbox. We may have used a stiff envelope or had a letter wrapped around it so it wasn't obviously just cash (this was ten years ago, so can't remember if we did anything special), but in any event, there were no problems.