OK, so this is not for the privacy enthusiasts, they’re not going to agree and I wouldn’t expect this to influence them in any way.
But for those of us for whom privacy is not an overriding principle, just one of a number of considerations that are more important in some situations and less so in others…
I believe that widespread adoption of crypto is still hampered by the perception that it is mainly used by drug dealers, terrorists and other criminals.
And a great way to counter that is for crypto enthusiasts to come out of the closet and let their real world identities be known.
When people running pools and Cardano-related info websites etc conceal their identities, for me it just reinforces the perception that’s it all a bit dubious, underhand, something to be ashamed of.
Yes of course there are risks in coming out in the open, but I feel strongly that, in the vast majority of cases, it is worth the risk.
Please note I’m not saying this should be a requirement of any kind, I think it should be voluntary, but people should carefully consider the benefits of “coming out”, and not just lazily assume that because hiding is safer it is therefore right for them.
@RobJF, @jb455 has a point here, if you don’t practice what you preach then your argument doesn’t hold much water.
However I do agree there are times when anonymity is needed and is at the discretion of the individual, may be you do have a point when it comes to an operator of a pool.
However most people have a preconceived idea or notion of crypto and do have a tendency of looking for a validation of that idea, good or bad, to reinforce, regardless of anonymity.
I believe privacy is a basic democratic right, by which I mean a person’s right to avoid surveillance in his private life. Only individuals are entitled to those.
Institutions, corporations, authorities, and even community leaders (in their professional capacity), have no right to privacy. In fact, they have an obligation to be transparent (one I think should be mandatory in many cases).
Where do pool operators fall? I would think community leaders/businesses. They provide a service, are literally delegated power, and basically exist to serve the network.
I think we should encourage, and commend (reward?) transparent pool operators .
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