[argomo]

A cryptopunk would say just the opposite: that privacy is a technical problem that, properly solved, alleviates us of political concerns.

Both views seem to miss the mark. The crypto folks see mathematical certitude while ignoring the dynamics of the social/legal context in which it must operate. By contrast, those who argue that "artifacts don't have politics" would absolve technologists of an ethical duty to consider how their products impact society.

In short, privacy required both technical and legal protections as well as a society that demands it as a fundamental human right

[finite_jest]

Right, and a standard response to cryptopunk fundamentalism is pointing at rubber-hose cryptoanalysis [1].

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber-hose_cryptanalysis