Jeff Garzik, one of the core developers of the Bitcoin software, stood before an audience of about 40 cryptocurrency enthusiasts and told them something that no one in the room wanted to hear. “Sorry,” he declared. “Bitcoins aren’t anonymous. [The currency] is more private and more anonymous than your credit card or PayPal. But it is less private and less anonymous than just face-to-face cash transactions.”
It's either anonymous or it's not... There are no 'varying degrees.' Creating a conversational grey area where none exists...
You ever met a girl who describes herself as "a little pregnant" or "I kinda have some AIDS?"
It's either exposed or it's not.
I think what he is actually saying is that there are different avenues and methods for exposure. You should not depend on your attacker's ignorance to manufacture faux-levels of anonymity. It's just not true.
From a Darknet perspective, there are plenty of things that The State can collect that cannot PROVE you dun it. But, it sure damn well narrows it down so they can get their hands on evidence that DOES prove you dun it. These things that won't prove it won't see the light of day. They don't want you to know the hints that led to the actual evidence. They only expose that part of the game when they get desperate. Just because there hasn't been a knock on your door.... Yet. Know that they're watching and use that against them. Lead following, investigation, data mining; no matter what name it goes by, it all goes into a database of commonalities that eventually gets narrowed down. Monkey wrench it with buttloads of entropy and deliberately engineered noise.
That's exactly how DRK works. It's nobody's damn business, and the nosy creepers that get paid to spy on you must be nullified in order to reclaim that privacy. It's not a matter of if they're watching you now. Or if you have nothing to hide. The fact is those cuntbags exist, and at one point or another, they'll look in your direction whether you break their "laws" or not. They're always looking for another victim. Thousands of innocent people get hung out to dry every day simply because they can't afford a defense against a prosecutor's completely baseless accusation. You don't want to be looked at, even if you have nothing to hide. It's only too easy to manufacture digital evidence.
My drives are encrypted. Not to keep any0one out, but to keep The State from putting anything on them and claiming "Oh look at all this child porn we found" like they do to pretty much everyone that speaks out against them. They tried to do it to a friend of mine who was selling console mod chips. When they get a search warrant for your computer, you don't want it back. You have to sign a piece of paper saying that you received it back in the same condition which it was taken from you. As soon as you sign that paper, you own anything they put in it. Won't make a damn bit of difference if they do a sloppy job and you can prove the timestamps, etc... You singed the paper. You're fucked. Off to prison for you, you dirty child pornographer!
Proof has not a damn thing to do with it. Privacy becomes important once you've had to deal with that shit. Too many people insist on learning the hard way with the "I have nothing to hide" idiocy. You let The State into your affairs, they'll "find" whatever they want to find.