[a4isms]

In my jurisdiction, if I operate a pawn shop, I am required by law to record transactions, collect ID, and make good faith attempts to prevent people from laundering stolen goods through my shop.

Does "privacy is a human right" trump the law in my jurisdiction? Can we say it is improper for the government to require me to collect ID from people selling me goods? Can we say it is improper of the government to require me to keep records of who sold me what?

I take the proceeds from my pawn shop to the bank. They are required by law to collect my ID. If I deposit large amounts of cash, they have additional reporting requirements. Does "privacy is a human right" trump these laws that exist to prevent the laundering of criminal proceeds through banks?

I also have discomfort over how much data the government collects in the name of preventing the laundering of stolen goods and criminal proceeds.

But in the large, I accept that freedom is not an absolute, it is a set of careful tradeoffs between:

1. The freedom for citizens to do as they please without society limiting what we're allowed to do, versus; 2. The freedom for criminal cartels to do as they please, preying upon citizens.

The latter is important, because when criminals prey upon citizens, they reduce our freedom as well. I want the freedom to own nice things. The easier it is for criminals to steal and fence my things, the less freedom I actually have to enjoy them

I also want the freedom to run a business. When criminals can prey upon businesses with ransomware and launder the proceeds through TornadoCash, the less freedom I actually have.

A "Libertarian Paradise" where criminals are free to do as they please because we don't want to impinge upon any citizen's freedom whatsoever, is free in name only. We may not like all of the current set of tradeoffs, but we must accept that if we don't make some tradeoffs, we will not be free in any real sense.

[eric_cc]

> if I operate a pawn shop

Tornado Cash is not a company and nobody operates it. It is a privacy protocol.

Better to say “If I am a HTTPS”…

[a4isms]

That has no bearing on the basic argument which consists of:

1. Claim: "Privacy is a human right, the government should not be allowed to know anything about financial transactions," and;

2. Counter-claim: "Privacy of financial transactions is not a thing now, and absolute ideological freedom is not actual freedom, it is the law of the jungle where the strong are free to prey upon the weak, and the weak have no freedom from the predatory strong."