The Cryptocurrency Surveillance Provision Buried in the Infrastructure Bill is a Disaster for Digital Privacy

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The forthcoming Senate draft of Biden’s infrastructure bill—a 2,000+ page bill designed to update the United States’ roads, highways, and digital infrastructure—contains a poorly crafted provision that could create new surveillance requirements for many within the blockchain ecosystem. This could include developers and others who do not control digital assets on behalf of users.

While the language is still evolving, the proposal would seek to expand the definition of “broker” under section 6045(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to include anyone who is “responsible for and regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets” on behalf of another person. These newly defined brokers would be required to comply with IRS reporting requirements for brokers, including filing form 1099s with the IRS. That means they would have to collect user data, including users’ names and addresses.

The broad, confusing language leaves open a door for almost any entity within the cryptocurrency ecosystem to be considered a “broker”—including software developers and cryptocurrency startups that aren’t custodying or controlling assets on behalf of their users. It could even potentially implicate miners, those who confirm and verify blockchain transactions. The mandate to collect names, addresses, and transactions of customers means almost every company even tangentially related to cryptocurrency may suddenly be forced to surveil their users.

How this would work in practice is still very much an open question. Indeed, perhaps this extremely broad interpretation was not even the intent of the drafters of this language. But given the rapid timeline for the bill’s likely passage, those answers may not be resolved before it hits the Senate floor for a vote.

Some may wonder why an infrastructure bill primarily focused on topics like highways is even attempting to address as complex and evolving a topic as digital privacy and cryptocurrency. This provision is actually buried in the section of the bill relevant to covering the costs of the other proposals. In general, bills that seek to offer new government services must explain how the government will pay for those services. This can be done through increasing taxes or by somehow improving tax compliance.

The cryptocurrency provision in this bill is attempting to do the latter. The argument is that by engaging in more rigorous surveillance of the cryptocurrency community, the Biden administration will see more tax revenue flow in from this community without actually increasing taxes, and thus be able to cover $28 billion of its $2 trillion infrastructure plan. Basically, it’s presuming that huge swaths of cryptocurrency users are engaged in mass tax avoidance, without providing any evidence of that.

Make no mistake: there is a clear and substantial harm in ratcheting up financial surveillance and forcing more actors within the blockchain ecosystem to gather data on users. Including this provision in the infrastructure bill will:

Require new surveillance of everyday users of cryptocurrency;
Force software creators and others who do not custody cryptocurrency for their users to implement cumbersome surveillance systems or stop offering services in the United States;
Create more honeypots of private information about cryptocurrency users that could attract malicious actors; and
Create more legal complexity to developing blockchain projects or verifying transactions in the United States—likely leading to more innovation moving overseas.

Furthermore, it is impossible for miners and developers to comply with these reporting requirements; these parties have no way to gather that type of information.

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The bill could also create uncertainty about the ability to conduct cryptocurrency transactions directly with others, via open source code (e.g. smart contracts and decentralized exchanges), while remaining anonymous. The ability to transact directly with others anonymously is fundamental to civil liberties, as financial records provide an intimate window into a person’s life.

This poor drafting appears to be yet another example of lawmakers failing to understand the underlying technology used by cryptocurrencies. EFF has long advocated for Congress to protect consumers by focusing on malicious actors engaged in fraudulent practices within the cryptocurrency space. However, overbroad and technologically disconnected cryptocurrency regulation could do more harm than good.

Blockchain projects should serve the interests and needs of users, and we hope to see a diverse and competitive ecosystem where values such as individual privacy, censorship-resistance, and interoperability are designed into blockchain projects from the ground up. Smart cryptocurrency regulation will foster this innovation and uphold consumer privacy, not surveil users while failing to do anything meaningful to combat fraud.

EFF has a few key concepts we’ve urged Congress to adopt when developing cryptocurrency regulation, specifically that any regulation:

Should be technologically neutral;
Should not apply to those who merely write and publish code;
Should provide protections for individual miners, merchants who accept cryptocurrencies, and individuals who trade in cryptocurrency as consumers;
Should focus on custodial services that hold and trade assets on behalf of users;
Should provide an adequate on-ramp for new services to comply;
Should recognize the human right to privacy;
Should recognize the important role of decentralized technologies in empowering consumers;
Should not chill future innovation that will benefit consumers.

The poorly drafted provision in Biden’s infrastructure bill fails our criteria across the board.

The Senate should act swiftly to modify or remove this dangerous provision. Getting cryptocurrency regulation right means ensuring an opportunity for public engagement and nuance—and the breakneck timeline of the infrastructure bill leaves no chance for either.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay. Article cross-posted from EFF.org

American Patriots Uniting to Fight Tyranny from, Well, Everywhere

We’re building a new conservative news network. Based on responses from fellow patriots, we’re heading in the right direction.

It may be hard to believe based on what we’re seeing around the nation today, but there are many reasons to be hopeful. First and foremost, the false narrative that most of America hates traditional values or the foundations of our nation are finally being proven false. Despite the best efforts of globalists and Neo-Marxists, patriotic Americans are starting to unify in droves. Meanwhile, Joe Biden can barely muster a half-filled auditorium to deliver his message to the scant few watching CNN and the paid shills in the “crowd.”

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The “silent majority” that drove Donald Trump to victory in 2016 and 2020 (yes, he won by a landslide but was robbed along with the American people) is finally starting to realize we cannot stay silent any longer. We used to win with our votes, but those are being stolen. We used to win with truth, but the radical left and their agents in mainstream media, Big Tech, and academia are building a post-truth society to drown out reality. Today, we are waking up to the realization that only through direct action and fearlessly spreading the truth can we overcome the nefarious forces working against us.

We are proud to be working our way up to the tip of the conservative media spear. Our network is growing. We’re establishing strong partnerships with like-minded news outlets and courageous journalists. Even as Big Tech suppresses us, the honest messages they’re trying to quash are finding their way to the eyes and ears of patriots across the nation. With the help of new content partners like The Epoch Times and The Liberty Daily, we’re starting to see a real impact.

Our network is currently comprised of nine sites:

Some of our content is spread across all of these sites. Other pieces of content are unique. We write most of what we post but we also draw from those willing to allow us to share their quality articles, videos, and podcasts. We collect the best content from fellow conservative sites that give us permission to republish them. We’re not ego-driven; I’d much rather post a properly attributed story written by experts like Dr. Joseph Mercola or Natural News than rewrite it like so many outlets like to do. We’re not here to take credit. We’re here to spread the truth.

The slow and steady reopening of America is revealing there was a lot more economic hardship brought about from the Covd-19 lockdowns than most realize. While we continue to hope advertising dollars on the sites go up, it’s simply not enough to do things the right way. We are currently experiencing a gap between revenue and expenses that cannot be overcome by click-ads and MyPillow promos alone (promo code “NOQ” by the way).

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Most “Conservative” News Outlets Are on the Big Tech Teat

Not long ago, conservative media was not beholden to anyone. Today, most sites are stuck on the Big Tech gravy train.

I’ll keep this short. The rise of Pandemic Panic Theater, massive voter fraud, and other “taboo” topics have neutered a majority of conservative news sites. You’ll notice they are very careful about what topics they tackle. Sure, they’ll attack Critical Race Theory, Antifa, and the Biden-Harris regime, but you won’t see them going after George Soros, Bill Gates, the World Economic Forum, or the Deep State, among others.

The reason is simple. They are beholden to Big Tech, and Big Tech doesn’t allow certain topics to be discussed or they’ll cut you off. Far too many conservative news outlets rely on Google, Facebook, and Twitter for the bulk of their traffic. They depend on big checks from Google ads to keep the sites running. I don’t necessarily hold it against them. We all do what we need to do to survive. I just wish more would do like we have, which is to cut out Big Tech altogether.

We don’t get Google checks. We don’t have Facebook or Twitter buttons on our stories. We don’t have a YouTube Channel (banned), an Instagram profile (never made one), or a TikTok (no thanks, CCP). We’re not perfect, but we’re doing everything we can to not owe anything to anyone… other than our readers. We owe YOU the truth. We owe YOU the facts that others won’t reveal about topics that others won’t tackle. And we owe America, this great land that allows us to take hold of these opportunities.

Like I said, I don’t hold other conservative sites under too much scrutiny over their choices. It’s easy for people to point fingers when we’re not the ones paying their bills or supporting their families. I just wish there were more who would make the bold move. Today, only a handful of other major conservative news outlets have broken free from the Big Tech teat. Of course, we need help.

Our network is currently comprised of nine sites:

We are also building partnerships with great conservative sites like The Liberty Daily and The Epoch Times to advance the message as loudly as possible, and we’re always looking for others with which to partner.

Some of our content is spread across multiple sites. Other pieces of content are unique. We write most of what we post but we also draw from those willing to allow us to share their quality articles, videos, and podcasts. We collect the best content from fellow conservative sites that give us permission to republish them. We’re not ego-driven; I’d much rather post a properly attributed story written by experts like Dr. Joseph Mercola or Natural News than rewrite it like so many outlets like to do. We’re not here to take credit. We’re here to spread the truth.

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We know we could make a lot more money if we sold out like so many “conservative” publications out there. You won’t find Google ads on our site for a reason. Yes, they’re lucrative, but I don’t like getting paid by minions of Satan (I don’t like Google very much if you couldn’t tell).

Time is short. As the world spirals towards The Great Reset, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report and the other sites in the network going. Our promise is this: We will never sell out America. If that means we’re going to struggle for a while or even indefinitely, so be it. Integrity first. Truth first. America first.

Thank you and God Bless,
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