The Privacy Iceberg

This is original content. AI was not used anywhere except for the bottom right image, simply because I could not find one similar enough to what I needed. This took around 6 hours to make.

Transcription (for the visually impaired)

(I tried my best)

The background is an iceberg with 6 levels, denoting 6 different levels of privacy.

The tip of the iceberg is titled “The Brainwashed” with a quote beside it that says “I have nothing to hide”. The logos depicted in this section are:

The surface section of the iceberg is titled “As seen on TV” with a quote beside it that says “This video is sponsored by…”. The logos depicted in this section are:

An underwater section of the iceberg is titled “The Beginner” with a quote beside it that says “I don’t like hackers and spying”. The logos depicted in this section are:

A lower section of the iceberg is titled “The Privacy Enthusiast” with a quote beside it that says “I have nothing I want to show”. The logos depicted in this section are:

An even lower section of the iceberg is titled “The Privacy Activist” with a quote beside it that says “Privacy is a human right”. The logos depicted in this section are:

The lowest portion of the iceberg is titled “The Ghost”. There is a quote beside it that has been intentionally redacted. The images depicted in this section are:

  • A cancel sign over a mobile phone, symbolizing “no electronics”
  • An illustration of a log cabin, symbolizing “living in a log cabin in the woods”
  • A picture of gold bars, symbolizing “paying only in gold”
  • A picture of a death certificate, symbolizing “faking your own death”
  • An AI generated picture of a person wearing a black hoodie, a baseball cap, a face mask, and reflective sunglasses, symbolizing “hiding ones identity in public”

End of transcription.

    • comfy@lemmy.ml
      2·
      8 hours ago

      It needs to be accepted as currency to be useful.

      My friend uses it to anonymously buy servers. Their country has a history of killing political activists so they take their privacy seriously when it comes to that kind of thing.

      I would say Monero was useful to them, at that time. It didn’t have to be mainstream to be useful. They weren’t investing in it. It allowed them to make an international transaction which is much harder to track than other accepted payment methods.

    • misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      43·
      1 day ago

      You can exchange it to another accepted crypto, or convert to fiat depending on what you’re trying to do. If you differ the exact amounts you buy and use, and delay the timing of your monero purchase and final purchase, it gives you anonimity. Or more like plausible deniability. Nobody said anonymity was convenient. You also don’t need every purchase to be anonymous for it to be useful.

      When you do most of those purchases you’re not anonymous to begin. But if you want to buy an embarrassing pornographic game on Steam and don’t want your payment provider to have “FURRYDICKS STUDIO” in your name, you sure can use Monero.

        • misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          51·
          24 hours ago

          I think this is simply a privacy education issue. Here’s how to anonymously buy a steam game, step by step:

          1. On an insecure computer, buy Bitcoin or other with your credit card
          2. Exchange Bitcoin for monero on an exchange website
          3. Send Monero to your private wallet
          4. Now on your very secure computer, create a Steam account using an anonymous email, all through VPN/Tor
          5. Create a Bitcoin or other wallet
          6. Access your monero on this computer and exchange it for Bitcoin or other, sent to your wallet
          7. Use Bitcoin or other to exchange to Fiat, Bitrefill looks like an option
          8. Purchase Steam game

          If your secure computer is totally anonymous, so is your purchase.

          Of my last 1 million purchases, exactly zero were done this way. The currency is not worth zero so obviously it’s useful to some. “I don’t personally use it” is an unconvincing argument, you simply don’t care about private purchases which is totally ok.

          If you were a progressive reporter in Saudi Arabia buying a web subscription to New York Times you would probably keep a balance of monero around, so these steps would take no time at all.

          For the rest of us with nothing to hide, some of us use Monero like this simply to protect those who do need privacy. The more who use it, the better anonymity it provides.

            • misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              41·
              24 hours ago

              “Again: How many of your last 100 purchases were made directly with monero? Just ballpark, I’m sure you have a sense.”. A reasonable interpretation of this is, “you don’t use it, so no one should”.

              Apparently millions of people find it useful. If you don’t that’s totally ok.

                • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
                  4·
                  23 hours ago

                  I’ve never used a parachute personally. They’re pretty inconvenient, have to be set up exactly right in order to work, and can expose you to pretty serious danger if not. That said, I’m sure they’re extremely useful for those in niche situations in which they may apply.

                • misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                  31·
                  23 hours ago

                  You won’t get a lot of people talking about their usage, lol. Are you in witness protection? I think witness protection is useless too, since I’ve never heard anyone even admit to being in the program. Do you watch porn? Porn is completely useless, no one has ever even admitted watching it to me, even after I badger them about their fetishes.

                  Monero is exactly what I think it is. Is its value inflated 100x by pump and dump investors? Sure. Is it useful to millions even without the investments? You bet.