Topic: electrum the most common complaint is privacy, why not broadcast at Starbucks (Read 131 times)
March 08, 2024, 07:37:11 AM
Thanks for you answer I understand far better now.
March 06, 2024, 03:35:15 PM
Is there a reason people dont leave their airgapped pc at home and just use public wifi anywhere to broadcast the pre signed tx?
A lot can happen in the time you created your airgapped transaction to the moment you broadcasted it. The price can go down, which would mean that you paid less than you needed to or the value can increase, meaning you overpaid. This is important if you are paying for some goods or services. If you are sending the coins to yourself or the fiat value doesn't matter, than no need to worry about it. One more thing. There might have been a sharp influx of new transactions paying a much higher fee, making your transaction fall down on the priority list. If a fast confirmation is vital, you might not get it due to the time you spent going to the place that has public WIFI.An air gapped device is an example of cold storage and it is called cold storage because it doesn't have a any connection to the internet and therefore is safer from hacks and phishing malwares unlike hot wallet which is more vulnerable to such attacks.
Now if you connect your air gapped device to the internet it can't be regarded as air gapped anymore.
That's not what OP meant. He is talking about using a public WIFI network only to broadcast a previously signed transaction using his airgapped setup. No private keys would leak in such a scenario in the same way they wouldn't leak if the PSBT was broadcasted using a private/home network.Now if you connect your air gapped device to the internet it can't be regarded as air gapped anymore.
That's one of the worst thing that you can do for your Bitcoin wallet's safety.
Broadcasting a PSBT using a public WIFI network doesn't impact the security of your wallet or bitcoins. It affects your privacy, but not security.Electrum is a very good and handy wallet and it's usage is not banned, nor does it affect your privacy.
Each server that you connect to knows all your bitcoin addresses, your IP, and your balance. That affects your privacy. 
March 06, 2024, 07:45:29 AM
and just use public wifi anywhere to broadcast the pre signed tx ?
That's one of the worst thing that you can do for your Bitcoin wallet's safety.Could you elaborate how it reduce someone's Bitcoin safety? I don't see direct security risk when the device which used to perform broadcast doesn't store private key or wallet file.
March 05, 2024, 04:50:54 PM
Is there a reason people dont leave their airgapped pc at home
People leave their airgapped pc at home, that's why it's called airgapped, it should be left at home, secured safely.and just use public wifi anywhere to broadcast the pre signed tx ?
That's one of the worst thing that you can do for your Bitcoin wallet's safety.I notice people saying they will never use electrum due to worry their country has banned it or that for any reason they want to remain anonymous.
Where did you notice people saying that? Electrum is a very good and handy wallet and it's usage is not banned, nor does it affect your privacy. But it's definitely a better idea to run your own node or you can connect Electrum to Tor.Surely nothing is more anonymous than public wifi ?
Everything is more anonymous than public wifi. March 05, 2024, 02:11:38 PM
Thanks for the explanation. I feel I understand better.
I have some other questions but bit different topic.
So I start a new one because people may not be interested in this heading.
I have some other questions but bit different topic.
So I start a new one because people may not be interested in this heading.
March 05, 2024, 01:42:56 AM
The privacy concerns with Electrum is not only about the server you connect to seeing your IP address. The privacy issues is also about the fact that this server sees all your addresses and can link them together. So for example if your address 1 and 2 have received coins from different sources (a blockchain analysis company can not link them) the Electrum server knows these belong to the same wallet and are linked.
Otherwise if the concern were only IP address you could have easily changed your IP without needing to go out to a public WIFI place, such as using a VPN or even TOR.
Otherwise if the concern were only IP address you could have easily changed your IP without needing to go out to a public WIFI place, such as using a VPN or even TOR.
March 04, 2024, 06:39:33 AM
Maybe it possible to
Leave airgapped computer at home. Don't need this after signing.
Take watch only wallet to McDonalds car park on the other laptop , quickly broadcast tx on their wifi.
Never possible to track who sent the tx.
If worried about virus or malware. Then can just keep image of windows of that machine before leaving and reformat and reload it.
I agree public wifi is insecure and not for browsing.
Yes, perfectly possible. That is assuming that no one is actively eavesdropping on your connection, logging all your metadata and your MAC addresses. Invasion of privacy is rampant with free WiFi out there and I'm sure this could happen with any free WiFi you find out there. Tor is a far better choice by comparison.Leave airgapped computer at home. Don't need this after signing.
Take watch only wallet to McDonalds car park on the other laptop , quickly broadcast tx on their wifi.
Never possible to track who sent the tx.
If worried about virus or malware. Then can just keep image of windows of that machine before leaving and reformat and reload it.
I agree public wifi is insecure and not for browsing.
You would have to tailor the behavior of the wallet as well to avoid privacy leakage.
March 04, 2024, 06:18:51 AM
Hi,
I think I didnt explain very well.
What I mean is
Maybe it possible to
Leave airgapped computer at home. Don't need this after signing.
Take watch only wallet to McDonalds car park on the other laptop , quickly broadcast tx on their wifi.
Never possible to track who sent the tx.
If worried about virus or malware. Then can just keep image of windows of that machine before leaving and reformat and reload it.
I agree public wifi is insecure and not for browsing.
I think I didnt explain very well.
What I mean is
Maybe it possible to
Leave airgapped computer at home. Don't need this after signing.
Take watch only wallet to McDonalds car park on the other laptop , quickly broadcast tx on their wifi.
Never possible to track who sent the tx.
If worried about virus or malware. Then can just keep image of windows of that machine before leaving and reformat and reload it.
I agree public wifi is insecure and not for browsing.
In such case, broadcasting your TX to random node or website while using Tor connection should achieve similar result. It's also possible broadcast to random website without giving away browser fingerprint using curl[1-2].
[1] https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.57186698
[2] https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.11245971
March 04, 2024, 05:30:26 AM
Hi,
I think I didnt explain very well.
What I mean is
Maybe it possible to
Leave airgapped computer at home. Don't need this after signing.
Take watch only wallet to McDonalds car park on the other laptop , quickly broadcast tx on their wifi.
Never possible to track who sent the tx.
If worried about virus or malware. Then can just keep image of windows of that machine before leaving and reformat and reload it.
I agree public wifi is insecure and not for browsing.
I think I didnt explain very well.
What I mean is
Maybe it possible to
Leave airgapped computer at home. Don't need this after signing.
Take watch only wallet to McDonalds car park on the other laptop , quickly broadcast tx on their wifi.
Never possible to track who sent the tx.
If worried about virus or malware. Then can just keep image of windows of that machine before leaving and reformat and reload it.
I agree public wifi is insecure and not for browsing.
March 04, 2024, 02:16:17 AM
Is there a reason people dont leave their airgapped pc at home and just use public wifi anywhere to broadcast the pre signed tx ? I notice people saying they will never use electrum due to worry their country has banned it or that for any reason they want to remain anonymous.
Electrum is notoriously bad for privacy because the server will always be able to see whatever you're trying to query. If you want privacy, then use a privacy focused wallet or run Bitcoin Core. Public WiFi doesn't enhance the privacy because the server would still be able to see all the addresses that you're querying and thereby linking all of them to your identity. In addition, public Wifis are not secure and it would be likely that they are eavesdropping on your connections. If you need privacy, use Tor.
The watch only wallet is unable to get the private keys so is there any other concern people may have that prevents them doing this?
Your watch-only wallet is a convenient wallet for you to query for your addresses and create/broadcast transactions. It has nothing to do with privacy. 
March 04, 2024, 02:05:47 AM
An air gapped device is an example of cold storage and it is called cold storage because it doesn't have a any connection to the internet and therefore is safer from hacks and phishing malwares unlike hot wallet which is more vulnerable to such attacks.
Now if you connect your air gapped device to the internet it can't be regarded as air gapped anymore. Plus public WiFi are not safe at all . It is not even advisable to log into your forum account via public WiFi or other cafe networks because of various malwares that and other risks that accompany it.
Now if you connect your air gapped device to the internet it can't be regarded as air gapped anymore. Plus public WiFi are not safe at all . It is not even advisable to log into your forum account via public WiFi or other cafe networks because of various malwares that and other risks that accompany it.
March 03, 2024, 10:34:14 PM
Public WiFi is neither private nor safe. In anything that you are using it for, know that the owner can track you and your browsing history.
If you want to have privacy, run your own node or server with Tor. If you want to be anonymous, use Tor.
If you want to have privacy, run your own node or server with Tor. If you want to be anonymous, use Tor.
March 03, 2024, 10:27:14 PM
Is there a reason people dont leave their airgapped pc at home and just use public wifi anywhere to broadcast the pre signed tx ? I notice people saying they will never use electrum due to worry their country has banned it or that for any reason they want to remain anonymous.
Surely nothing is more anonymous than public wifi ?
Can sit in car parks everywhere and get wifi.
The watch only wallet is unable to get the private keys so is there any other concern people may have that prevents them doing this?
Surely nothing is more anonymous than public wifi ?
Can sit in car parks everywhere and get wifi.
The watch only wallet is unable to get the private keys so is there any other concern people may have that prevents them doing this?
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