Privacy Is An Illusion Series #2 | How You Can Be Tracked If You Use Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies

This is my continuing series on how you can be tracked even if you think certain cryptocurrencies can hide your identity.

I talked about ad trackers in my first post:

• Waiting for Amazon Cryptocurrency Rumtors To Come? If You Value Your Privacy Then Read This First

Here are some other articles that illustrate how law enforcement is linking cryptocurrency transactions to criminals

• Follow the Bitcoin to Find Victims of Human Trafficking - Criminals that post online sex ads are identified through machine learning algorithms and then tied to cryptocurrency transactions.

• Third party trackers on web shops can identify users behind Bitcoin transactions - This technique is the same as my first post in this series above.

• Suspected dark web drug kingpin arrested after traveling to US for world beard championships - Drug dealer Gal Vallerius decided it was a good idea to come to the US to compete in the World Beard and Mustache Championships. That gave the US an opportunity to arrest him. Law enforcement knew about Dark Web marketplace Dream Market profile named OxyMonster. Investigators discovered OxyMonster’s real identity by tracing outgoing Bitcoin transactions from his tip jar to wallets registered to Vallerius. Agents then checked his Twitter and Instagram accounts, where they found many writing similarities, including regular use of quotation marks, double exclamation marks, and the word “cheers,” as well as intermittent French posts.

If you are a criminal, it doesn't matter if you switch to a better privacy coin. I talk about criminals switching to Monero here. Most criminals will make a mistake somewhere else and get caught. Or law enforcement will be forced to find other ways to link cryptocurrency transactions to other footprints that are left on the internet.

If you are not a criminal, then marketers will always find sneaky ways to track your consumer behavior without you knowledge and push targeted ads your way.

Think you are different because your tech is untraceable? Share your thoughts with the steemit community.

Traversing the Cryptosphere,

Kryptonaut