The attempt by law enforcement to access everyone's data should be abandoned
While some feel that other privacy-focused initiatives may suffer as a result of the Tornado Cash prohibition, others are confident that these projects will continue to advance and uphold their principles to anti-censorship and decentralization.
Ahmed Ghappour, the general counsel at the privacy-focused project Nym Technologies, spoke with Cointelegraph about the value of privacy in the crypto sector, how to strike a balance between the interests of regulators and those who value privacy, and what the future of privacy in Web 3 holds.
Ghappour asserts that there are conflicting ideas in the Web3 industry. This is the pledge to give individuals back control over their data while maintaining total transparency for all blockchain transactions. The attorney pointed out that maintaining privacy is essential to achieving these conflicting objectives.
The Tornado Cash event, however, makes it clear that American regulators are targeting privacy technologies. The attorney emphasized how this limits the market's capacity for innovation. He claimed:
"The United States is using a sledgehammer to swat a fly. [...] Instead of concepts, algorithms, or code, OFAC designation is intended to enact economic penalties primarily against nations and groups of people, such as terrorists and drug traffickers.
It makes sense, according to Ghappour, not to endorse ideas. This is due to the fact that the effect will be to neutralize a target by making practically any affiliations with it illegal, including innocent ones that are obviously unrelated to any other criminal activity.
The attorney emphasized that it relies on the objectives of regulators when asked if there is a way to strike a balance between those who seek privacy and those who have regulatory interests. According to Ghappour, in order to strike a balance, regulators must match the public's interests with their own and take the demand for privacy into consideration. He detailed this:
Law enforcement must abandon their false expectations of having unrestricted access to everyone's data handed to them on a silver platter in order to achieve a balance.
Despite this, Ghappour is concerned that regulators' interests are actually more in line with maintaining the status quo of financial surveillance than they are with the interests of the general public. However, the CEO predicts that initiatives putting privacy and security at the center of technology will continue to receive support.
