“As the Web grew, the average level of sophistication of users dropped. It was hard to explain the importance of privacy to them”<p>Chaum certainly was ahead of his time, and what he said will deeply resonate with any privacy advocate.<p>Now, more than two decades later, I believe his idea has much more potential.<p>Firstly people are a lot more educated, about how the web works in general, how valuable privacy is and about the strength of cryptography.<p>Secondly, it is no secret anymore that Visa et al. blatantly sell any data they have on their customers.<p>And lastly, any entity that wants to do business online or via card transactions has to pay high fees to Card/payment providers.<p>An open standard of electronic cash could solve these issues perfectly, undermining the existance of companies that only exist because they have a license.<p>Maybe the time has come for Chaum's legacy.
"U.S. consumers are deeply wedded to credit cards," says CyberCash's Melton.<p>In the US we are forced into using credit cards in order to participate in society. People get credit checks to even rent an apartment now. And not being in debt is not good enough criteria to have "good credit". It's an example of rent-seeking behavior that has been grafted onto our economic culture while not providing any kind of benefit.