[tptacek]

No, horrifying crimes are not movie plots, sorry. Some of the crimes we're talking about are issues virtually everyone on HN seems to care about (for instance: securities and banking fraud) and are already extremely difficult to prosecute without the kinds of evidence we're discussing.

[jessaustin]

I won't presume to speak for "everyone on HN", but my personal concern about "securities and banking fraud" is the capriciousness and corruption exhibited by our current prosecution of those. Multiple people are in prison because they sold BTC to someone who sold BTC to someone who used BTC to buy drugs. Meanwhile HSBC, Wachovia, etc. have been caught red-handed laundering billions in drug money, and no one has seen the inside of a jail. Lots of other big banks screwed up badly enough on securitization of subprime loans that their paid-for Treasury Secretary had to bail them out with public funds, and who do the prosecutors go after? Some tiny little Chinese immigrant bank who actually caught and reported a loan officer who tried to write some fraudulent loans. Giving LEOs more power to snoop into every part of citizens' private lives isn't going to make this sorry situation any better.

The phrase "horrifying crimes" makes me think of something violent. Evidence in violent crimes tends to be physical rather than mobile-phone-based.

Of course, you've also already admitted [0] that none of this is about catching criminals.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16239680