Financial Surveillance

The traditional financial system is monitored on behalf of law enforcement by intermediaries, like banks and payments companies. These private entities are deputized by the government to surveil and report substantial amounts of personal data without warrants or typical due process.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin remove the need for intermediaries in many situations. This raises interesting questions about how existing surveillance laws apply to cryptocurrency users and raises constitutional questions about how much information we must share with the government about our own personal transactions.