Privacyproof 2024 awards: Doxxer category winners

The results of “Privacy Proof” annual awards are here. First patient - “Doxxer of the year” category.

These are the champions responsible for leaks, breaches, surveillance, data manipulation, anti-privacy features, and non-ethical behaviour. Their actions vary, but the consequences are the same - minus to privacy.

Approach “Doxxer” category as an educational track & explore how different orgsnisations, governments and individuals undermine privacy.

“Privacy Proof” is an annual awards facilitated by the Web3Privacy now collective. It aims to feature key projects, news, innovations & doxxers of the market selected by 90+ enthusiasts, developers, researchers, cryptographers, cypherpunks, and community builders from Vitalik Buterin to Zooko behind the Ethereum, Nym, Logos, Railgun, Aztec, ZK Sync, dappnode, Electric Coin & Co. & many other organisations.

All contributions are public & can be found on X & Fileverse

And the Doxxer of the year award goes to…

Winner

Coinbase encourage people to not use VPN while accessing it’s services.

https://x.com/scottshapiro/status/1863691538661883925
https://x.com/scottshapiro/status/1863691538661883925

Runner-up

Arkham - a crypto intelligence platform that works on doxxing wallet holders.

Notable mentions

Fractal & OpenAI - the decentralized identity stack & LLM

Fractal data breach compromised personal data of 1M customers.

https://x.com/zachxbt/status/1814654805908070702
https://x.com/zachxbt/status/1814654805908070702

Organizations

Arkham - a crypto intelligence platform

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninabambysheva/2023/07/24/this-startup-wants-to-deanonymize-blockchain-privacy-advocates-are-furious/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninabambysheva/2023/07/24/this-startup-wants-to-deanonymize-blockchain-privacy-advocates-are-furious/
  • Fractal - decentralized identity stack
https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-identity-platform-fractal-id-suffers-data-breach
https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-identity-platform-fractal-id-suffers-data-breach

Worldcoin - digital proof of human identity based on biometrics scan through digital device

https://www.reuters.com/technology/hong-kong-regulator-directs-worldcoin-cease-operations-citing-privacy-concerns-2024-05-22/
https://www.reuters.com/technology/hong-kong-regulator-directs-worldcoin-cease-operations-citing-privacy-concerns-2024-05-22/

Chainalysis - blockchain analysis firm

https://www.chainalysis.com/solution/crypto-investigations/
https://www.chainalysis.com/solution/crypto-investigations/
https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/19/worldcoin-must-let-europeans-comprehensively-delete-their-data-under-privacy-order/
https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/19/worldcoin-must-let-europeans-comprehensively-delete-their-data-under-privacy-order/
  • RedLine

    Meta - social metaverse company (ex-Facebook)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/metas-revised-paid-ad-free-050214575.html
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/metas-revised-paid-ad-free-050214575.html

Big Socials - a grouping of the largest IT companies in the world

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Surveillance_Capitalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Surveillance_Capitalism

Luma - crypto events management platform

https://lu.ma/privacy-policy
https://lu.ma/privacy-policy

Kid Security - parental control app

Zcash TEX Address

https://zips.z.cash/zip-0320
https://zips.z.cash/zip-0320

Snowflake breach

https://thehackernews.com/2024/06/snowflake-breach-exposes-165-customers.html
https://thehackernews.com/2024/06/snowflake-breach-exposes-165-customers.html

Telegram - popular messenger

https://websecuritylab.org/telegram-updates-privacy-policy/
https://websecuritylab.org/telegram-updates-privacy-policy/

Coinbase asking users to not use VPNs

https://www.ccn.com/news/crypto/coinbase-no-vpn-online-outrage/
https://www.ccn.com/news/crypto/coinbase-no-vpn-online-outrage/

ChatGPT - a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI

https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-is-a-data-privacy-nightmare-if-youve-ever-posted-online-you-ought-to-be-concerned-199283
https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-is-a-data-privacy-nightmare-if-youve-ever-posted-online-you-ought-to-be-concerned-199283

Mobilewalla - an American data broker company that collects and sells mobile device data

https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/tech-companies/ftc-restricts-mobilewalla-over-alleged-misuse-of-sensitive-consumer-data/ar-AA1vD078
https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/tech-companies/ftc-restricts-mobilewalla-over-alleged-misuse-of-sensitive-consumer-data/ar-AA1vD078

Gravy Analytics - location intelligence and foot traffic data

https://www.wired.com/story/gravy-location-data-app-leak-rtb/
https://www.wired.com/story/gravy-location-data-app-leak-rtb/

Ledger - crypto-wallet company

https://www.ledger.com/privacy-policy
https://www.ledger.com/privacy-policy

AT&T Data Leak - 110M customer details breached

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/12/business/att-customers-massive-breach/index.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/12/business/att-customers-massive-breach/index.html
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/privacy-nightmare-on-wheels-every-car-brand-reviewed-by-mozilla-including-ford-volkswagen-and-toyota-flunks-privacy-test/
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/privacy-nightmare-on-wheels-every-car-brand-reviewed-by-mozilla-including-ford-volkswagen-and-toyota-flunks-privacy-test/

Coinbase has been ramping up surveillance and working closely with us government, closing accounts.

https://dailyhodl.com/2024/07/01/u-s-marshals-service-announces-partnership-with-coinbase-to-manage-and-dispose-cryptocurrencies/
https://dailyhodl.com/2024/07/01/u-s-marshals-service-announces-partnership-with-coinbase-to-manage-and-dispose-cryptocurrencies/
https://www.carscoops.com/2024/12/vw-group-data-breach-exposed-location-info-for-800000-evs/
https://www.carscoops.com/2024/12/vw-group-data-breach-exposed-location-info-for-800000-evs/
https://rekt.news/patently-absurd/
https://rekt.news/patently-absurd/
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/live-nation-probing-ticketmaster-hack-user-data-leak-concerns-rcna155017
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/live-nation-probing-ticketmaster-hack-user-data-leak-concerns-rcna155017

National Public Data (NPD) - a data broker company

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/national-public-data-breach-what-you-need-to-know-843686f7-06e2-4e91-8a3f-ae30b7213535
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/national-public-data-breach-what-you-need-to-know-843686f7-06e2-4e91-8a3f-ae30b7213535

Governments

Government databases

Australia age-gated internet content KYC enforcement

https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/esafety-statement-national-age-restrictions-for-digital-platforms
https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/esafety-statement-national-age-restrictions-for-digital-platforms

The U.S. Government for Mandating Backdoors

  • the EU

  • Ylva Johansson (and every EU nation that didn’t block the proposal)

https://chatcontrol.se/
https://chatcontrol.se/

FATF (The Financial Action Task Force) - global action to tackle money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing

https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/topics/virtual-assets.html
https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/topics/virtual-assets.html
  • Every government

    FINCEN - US bureau safeguarding the financial system from illicit activity, counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and promote national security

https://www.innreg.com/blog/us-crypto-regulation#section-5
https://www.innreg.com/blog/us-crypto-regulation#section-5

DoJ attacking onchain privacy tools

https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/04/26/doj-arrests-over-cash-like-privacy-concerns-and-fbi-wallet-alert/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/04/26/doj-arrests-over-cash-like-privacy-concerns-and-fbi-wallet-alert/

EU politicians for trying to ban E2EE in messaging apps

https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/european-police-chiefs-call-for-industry-and-governments-to-take-action-against-end-to-end-encryption-roll-out
https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/european-police-chiefs-call-for-industry-and-governments-to-take-action-against-end-to-end-encryption-roll-out

The Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DGCNECT) of the European Commission, for leading the development of the European Digital Identity (EUDI) wallet project

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/EUDIGITALIDENTITYWALLET/EU+Digital+Identity+Wallet+Home
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/display/EUDIGITALIDENTITYWALLET/EU+Digital+Identity+Wallet+Home

Norwegian government - tax/income info of every citizen

https://x.com/ASvanevik/status/1857568015929455050
https://x.com/ASvanevik/status/1857568015929455050

The FATF with the introduction of the travel rule

https://www.blockpit.io/en-gb/tax-guides/crypto-fatf-travel-rule
https://www.blockpit.io/en-gb/tax-guides/crypto-fatf-travel-rule

Individuals

Michael Saylor - American entrepreneur behind MicroStrategy

Januus (Thiel Fellowship) - mapping cryptowallets for physical locations  and people on a global scale.

https://www.januus.io/
https://www.januus.io/

ZachXBT - crypto investigator (positive example)

https://www.wired.com/story/meet-zachxbt-243-million-crypto-theft/
https://www.wired.com/story/meet-zachxbt-243-million-crypto-theft/

**Sam Altman - entrepreneur behind OpenAI

@brian_armstrong for encouraging people to buy coffee with USDC on Base

https://dailyhodl.com/2024/09/01/first-ai-to-ai-crypto-payments-now-underway-according-to-coinbase-ceo-brian-armstrong/
https://dailyhodl.com/2024/09/01/first-ai-to-ai-crypto-payments-now-underway-according-to-coinbase-ceo-brian-armstrong/

John Barnett - for whistleblowing about Boeing not addressing safety issues (positive example)

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/03/12/john-barnett-boeing-whistleblower/72947086007/
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/03/12/john-barnett-boeing-whistleblower/72947086007/

Kash Patel - Transparency from within the US government (Doxxer on the inside)

https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/2418491/kashyap-p-patel/
https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/2418491/kashyap-p-patel/

Other

https://deadline.com/2024/10/money-electric-the-bitcoin-mystery-hbo-documentary-trailer-1236107405/
https://deadline.com/2024/10/money-electric-the-bitcoin-mystery-hbo-documentary-trailer-1236107405/

LLMs

https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.02003
https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.02003

"Active listening" for ad targeting

https://gizmodo.com/pitch-dek-gives-new-details-on-companys-plan-to-listen-to-your-devices-for-ad-targeting-2000491095
https://gizmodo.com/pitch-dek-gives-new-details-on-companys-plan-to-listen-to-your-devices-for-ad-targeting-2000491095

Anyone building without privacy is ngmi

All transparent blockchains (Solana, Ethereum, L2s, Tron, Bitcoin, etc)

Bitcoin - decentralized cryptocurrency

https://www.bitcoin.com/get-started/is-bitcoin-private/
https://www.bitcoin.com/get-started/is-bitcoin-private/

The people who built and deployed Lavender for doxxing people in Gaza

https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/

Privacy Pools' 'proof-of-innocence'

https://proofofinnocence.com/
https://proofofinnocence.com/

Lumma Stealer - Fake CAPTCHA Attack

https://any.run/malware-trends/lumma
https://any.run/malware-trends/lumma
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