From: mmalmi@cc.hut.fi
Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2010 01:17:54 +0300
To: Satoshi Nakamoto <satoshin@gmx.com>
Subject: Re: Anonymous, homepage changes

Ok, that sounds reasonable.

> I think we should de-emphasize the anonymous angle.  With the
> popularity of bitcoin addresses instead of sending by IP, we can't give
> the impression it's automatically anonymous.  It's possible to be
> pseudonymous, but you have to be careful.  If someone digs through the
> transaction history and starts exposing information people thought was
> anonymous, the backlash will be much worse if we haven't prepared
> expectations by warning in advance that you have to take precautions if
> you really want to make that work.  Like Tor says, "Tor does not
> magically encrypt all of your Internet activities.  Understand what Tor
> does and does not do for you."
>
> Also, anonymous sounds a bit shady.  I think the people who want
> anonymous will still figure it out without us trumpeting it.
>
> I made some changes to the bitcoin.org homepage.  It's not really
> crucial to update the translations.  I tend to keep editing and
> correcting for some time afterwards, so if they want to update, they
> should wait.
>
> I removed the word "anonymous", and the sentence about "anonymity
> means", although you worded it so carefully "...CAN be kept hidden..."
> it was a shame to remove it.
>
> Instead, I added Tor instructions at the bottom, with instructions for
> how to stay anonymous (pseudonymous) directly after the Tor
> instructions: "If you want to remain anonymous (pseudonymous, really),
> be careful not to reveal any information linking your bitcoin addresses
> to your identity, and use a new bitcoin address for each payment you
> receive."
>
> It helps that it can now seed automatically through Tor.
>
> Even though it doesn't say anonymous until the bottom, I think
> anonymous seekers would already suspect it based on all the other
> attributes like no central authority to take your ID info and the way
> bitcoin addresses look.