Author(s): Cristina CARATA
Publication name: Romanian Intelligence Studies Review
Publisher name: Mihai Viteazul National Intelligence Academy
Publication type: Journal article
Publication date: December 31, 2017
Pagination:
Issue/ Volume: 17-18/2017
DOI:
Abstract
In the society we live in today, financial confidentiality and privacy has become
an important topic on the agenda, due to the fact that it is a concept embracing both
data security and private life data security. Crypto-currency has brought forth new
concepts, some of them even innovative – unknown to this date in the currency field – that
can fundamentally change the way we look at payment systems.
Virtual coins are based on cryptographic protocols and proof-of-work protocols
(based on hashing algorithms) as security methods. Thereby, “digital wallets” and digital
currency transactions are safe, irreversible and do not contain personal information
from the user. In addition to this feature, virtual money payments can be made without
personal information being linked to the transaction. Thus, since the emergence of the
first virtual coin – bitcoin, in 2008 – cryptocurrencies quickly developed as a popular
digital payment system, largely due to these fundamental features.
The present paper is intended to analyse why cryptocurrencies are becoming
more and more popular due to the notions of “privacy” and “anonymity”, the innovative
technology used and the effects of such anonymous transactions: on one hand, the
protection of personal data and fluency of financial transactions and, on the other hand,
the use of this technology in illegal activities.
Keywords: cryptocurrency; privacy; anonymity; technology; data security.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.