Requiem for a Bright Idea (1999)
“As the Web grew, the average level of sophistication of users dropped. It was hard to explain the importance of privacy to them”<p>Chaum certainly was ahead of his time, and what he said will deeply resonate with any privacy advocate.<p>Now, more than two decades later, I believe his idea has much more potential.<p>Firstly people are a lot more educated, about how the web works in general, how valuable privacy is and about the strength of cryptography.<p>Secondly, it is no secret anymore that Visa et al. blatantly sell any data they have on their customers.<p>And lastly, any entity that wants to do business online or via card transactions has to pay high fees to Card&#x2F;payment providers.<p>An open standard of electronic cash could solve these issues perfectly, undermining the existance of companies that only exist because they have a license.<p>Maybe the time has come for Chaum&#x27;s legacy.