Nostr

We wrote about this, I’d love to hear what you think after you read it.

https://blog.vexl.it/understanding-vexl-security-privacy-and-building-a-web-of-trust-867710d4a6fe

There is no better way currently, Nostr is something we are looking at for sure. But right now we need a web of trust we have all spent years building

Banana Shake 1y ago

You should get some youtubers to review it, like nostr:npub1rxysxnjkhrmqd3ey73dp9n5y5yvyzcs64acc9g0k2epcpwwyya4spvhnp8 for instance

But still not sure why requiring phone numbers on @vexl is a good idea. Many countries require government ID/passport/KYC/personal identification numbers/legal immigration status to get/activate a phone number/SIM card, hence @vexl discriminates against those people, which violates the principles of bitcoin being an open and permission-less network

@bitcoin applications need to be kept open and permission-less, to ensure usability and access to all and everyone, everywhere, fully independent of government policy

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Discussion

Grafton @ Vexl 1y ago

Bitcoin applications take time and developing a new web of trust takes years. Phone numbers are something we already share and have for years with a web of trust. You only see offers from people inside that web of trust. Someone doesn’t need to be on vexl to b e in your WOT.

The numbers are encrypted locally on your device. Only the hashes are sent.

I really encourage you to think about it more and read more, we are fully open-source. Funded by donations only and just received a grant from open sats.

We are building something that we want to use, we are cypherpunks, privacy is the right to selectively reveal yourself, and we want to create a tool that enables that for everyone.

We believe without the freedom to transact you have no other rights…

Banana Shake 1y ago

The point is not whether the phone number is stored encrypted on the device or not, the point is that governments/phone companies gatekeep who can get a phone number and who can’t and at what terms, therefore a phone number shouldn’t be required, as it means that a user would have to possess government ID to get a phone number in most jurisdictions, it should be based on an open and permission-less identifier, for instance a #nostr account.

The world is bigger and more complex than just one single country.

The design philosophy behind something should account for decades/centuries of changing government policies and privacy regulations/requirements, hence ditching the phone number requirement, same goes for email

Banana Shake 1y ago

Besides anything that can be linked to a name, such as a phone number/email is a privacy violation/data honey pot just waiting to be hacked/doxxed

Banana Shake 1y ago

Take a look at nostr:npub1dllf8wmj6jk83r7chck6madmfgh3fges65ctpe5t6ueujazvvcvsh20tz5 and their use of identifiers and data hygiene