Bitcoin Privacy - How easy it is for someone to find all your wallets addresses - page 2.

o_e_l_e_o

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Quote from: bitmover on September 20, 2019, 11:21:00 AM

For example, if you ever bought bitcoin from an exchange using Fiat you made KYC.

I think this goes without saying. Even the newest newbie should realize that if they are handing over their KYC documents to an exchange, then all their activity can be linked to their real name. Perhaps what they don't realize is that many exchanges track where coins come from and go to before and after being on the exchange. They will ban users who deposit from/to casinos and even mixers. Since exchanges report user activity to their relevant governments, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they are also reporting which addresses are linked to which user, allowing the government to then trace your activity as well.

Quote from: hatshepsut93 on September 20, 2019, 03:50:27 PM

Your transactions from different wallets can still be linked, but in a different way - if you have a static deposit address on an exchange, and use with different wallets, it can be easy to spot this and link those wallets

I don't really use exchanges, but I thought most would let you generate a new deposit address for each transaction, if you wanted? Do they really just give you one deposit address and that's it? What another great reason to stop using these exchanges. In this case, you will need to pass all your coins through a mixer prior to depositing them, and then again through a mixer after withdrawing them, but there are cases of some exchanges blocking transfers to/from mixers as I said above.

hatshepsut93

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Quote from: o_e_l_e_o on September 20, 2019, 09:57:19 AM

If using a mixer, then you should ideally be sending all coins to a brand new wallet, as opposed to back to a new address from the same wallet. There is always a chance that at some point in the future you mess up and accidentally link that new address to an old one or a change address from the same wallet, especially after months or years where you could easily forget which UTXOs were mixed and which weren't. There's also the possibility that someone gains access to your master public key, and then can derive all your address from that wallet and see that they are linked together.

Your transactions from different wallets can still be linked, but in a different way - if you have a static deposit address on an exchange, and use with different wallets, it can be easy to spot this and link those wallets, because exchange wallets are so well known, that even the walletexplorer site shows their names instead of just raw id. So, you not only have to worry what inputs you are using, but also to what inputs are you sending, because someone who reuses addresses can weaken your privacy.

bitmover

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Quote from: Lucius on September 20, 2019, 08:33:48 AM

I see a problem in this only if the user is buying some goods and paying with crypto, then his coin address can be linked with his personal data and privacy can be compromised. Coin address can be also linked with any social media accounts, many users post such info when applying for bounty campaigns, and they make an even easier job for anyone who digs for such information.

There are other possible leaks. For example, if you ever bought bitcoin from an exchange using Fiat you made KYC. If you send those coins from the exchange to your wallet it could even possible to link that to your bitcointalk account using a simple tool like that, if you are not careful.

This post was just to show people how easy it is to link all your addresses from the same wallet together.

BrewMaster

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Quote from: o_e_l_e_o on September 20, 2019, 09:57:19 AM

If you repeatedly visit the same address on a block explorer, it becomes pretty obvious to anyone watching you that you own that address, even if your wallet is offline/airgapped/paper/etc.

you forgot about the block explorers themselves keeping a record of which addresses the users keep checking. it could be done with using cookies and recording IP addresses and building a database to link different addresses to same person.

o_e_l_e_o

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Quote from: bitmover on September 20, 2019, 07:44:28 AM

Be careful, even using a mixer you need to be careful in your future transactions. After you send your mixed coins back to your wallet, you need to be careful not to link those coins to your old addresses (which may still have balance).

If using a mixer, then you should ideally be sending all coins to a brand new wallet, as opposed to back to a new address from the same wallet. There is always a chance that at some point in the future you mess up and accidentally link that new address to an old one or a change address from the same wallet, especially after months or years where you could easily forget which UTXOs were mixed and which weren't. There's also the possibility that someone gains access to your master public key, and then can derive all your address from that wallet and see that they are linked together.

Quote from: Lucius on September 20, 2019, 08:33:48 AM

The idea that Bitcoin is anonymous crypto is still prevalent, and in fact it is, until the moment you link it to your private data (name, home address, photo...).

It's not just about people sharing their private data willingly (which far too many people do), but it is also about your browsing habits. Some browsers, notable Chrome, monitor everything you do online. Many ISPs and governments also monitor their users and every webpage you visit. If you repeatedly visit the same address on a block explorer, it becomes pretty obvious to anyone watching you that you own that address, even if your wallet is offline/airgapped/paper/etc.

Lucius

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It just shows that your address A is connected with some address B or C and so on, but it is just coin address history without any user data. I see a problem in this only if the user is buying some goods and paying with crypto, then his coin address can be linked with his personal data and privacy can be compromised. Coin address can be also linked with any social media accounts, many users post such info when applying for bounty campaigns, and they make an even easier job for anyone who digs for such information.

The idea that Bitcoin is anonymous crypto is still prevalent, and in fact it is, until the moment you link it to your private data (name, home address, photo...).

bitmover

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bitcoindata.science

Few time ago I discovered this website, which allows anyone to discover all your used wallet's addresses with just a few clicks.

https://www.walletexplorer.com

Just paste some any used address there.
The website will show you all addresses that its inputs were used together in a single transaction.

Paste some of your used addresses there and get surprised. Probably many of them are going to be linked together.

How to avoid linking your addresses?

Unless you are very careful and you try not to mix many inputs from different addresses in the same transaction, all your addresses from the same wallet can be linked back to you, by anyone.

So, you have 2 options:
1 - Download a good wallet (like Electrum) which let you control each input, and be careful not to use those addresses in the same transaction.
Or
2 - Use a bitcoin mixer, which allows you to always have fresh coins with no blockchain connection to your old addresses.

Be careful, even using a mixer you need to be careful in your future transactions. After you send your mixed coins back to your wallet, you need to be careful not to link those coins to your old addresses (which may still have balance).

Topic: Bitcoin Privacy - How easy it is for someone to find all your wallets addresses - page 2. (Read 466 times)