FAQ: Technical Questions & Answers

Why doesn't GoodCrypto share PCAPs?

People who want crypto don't want geolocation, etc. Anonymization is unreliable.

PCAPs are packet logs. Some things even PCAPs of encrypted sessions reveal about you:

  • Where you are
  • The sites you visit
  • Which sites are most interesting to you

These details are from IP addresses and timestamps, especially timestamp differentials. It's available even in an encrypted session.

If your session is unencrypted, PCAPs reveal everything you do online:

  • Logins
  • Passwords
  • Banking access
  • Medical details
  • What topics interest you most
  • Who you contact
  • Who contacts you
  • Every private word you speak
  • Everything others tell you

PCAPs of sessions that don't involve people are less sensitive. But even those can be traced to the people who set up the system.

Anonymization is unreliable. If NSA is storing session metadata, then anonymization of PCAPs appears to be a hard problem.