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2026-09-17 09:16:22 UTC

Susie on Nostr: KYC is framed as protection, but when identity data is required to use a service, the ...

KYC is framed as protection, but when identity data is required to use a service, the information collected for safety can later be used for extortion.

One of the points I made, quoted in Cointelegraph was:

“We need to stop treating identity verification and surrendering your identity as though they are the same thing.”

Revolut released identity files after requests were sent from a legitimate Italian law enforcement address. The piece looks at:

- what went wrong
- why collecting documents is not the same as proving a fact
- how we can verify without storing so much personal data

Efrat Fenigson of You're The Voice warns: “When regulators keep mandating a model that guarantees this outcome, while the technology to verify without storing already exists, it raises a red flag.”

Lyudmyla Kozlovska of the Open Dialogue Foundation highlights another weakness: “EU AML law imposes no verification duty on the bank and provides no meaningful mechanism to check who is really behind an authenticated state request.”

Evin McMullen of Billions Network sums up the wider problem: “This is a governance and standards problem wearing a technology costume. You cannot lose what you never held.”

This is a really important piece from Christina Comben, bringing together the risks around how identity data is collected, stored and shared and the possible alternatives that already exist.

Read the full article here:

https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/revolut-id-thefts-highlight-kycs-dangers-heres-how-to-fix-it