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Comment by baby | Hacker News Reader

1) think of it as a centralized database that needs replication, you’d be a bit worried if this central place got attacked, so then you need some gossip-based protocol in place to allow some users to police the system. Consensus is a simple one because it allows most users to trust that consensus was agreed on correctly, as opposed to systems like transparency protocols that require users to more willingly engage in policing.

2) it is tied to non profits as well! The whole point is to fund this project by companies, no a company

3) we will support single currencies (a USD coin, for example)

4) that’s what we’re working on!

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If a sufficiently large nation state orders the companies involved to deny or override a transaction, is the gossip protocol/blockchain useful at all in denying this? Or is this one of those mechanisms only used for keeping out low level/underfunded attackers?

The system is governed by an entity in Switzerland that must follow regulations, so such a scenario would not be an attack on the system (and thus not be in scope for consensus). That being said, I don't know much about laws and regulations so that's the extent of my understanding :)

Since one of the major audiences is emerging economies, what happens if one of them goes to war with another? Can one side get their superpower patrons to order Diem to freeze the accounts of the other?

I think that's a problem not just for Diem, but for current banks too. I remember reading about HSBC having to shut down Carrie Lam's accounts due to the US putting her a bunch of other government people in HK on some sanctioned list. I think HSBC actually did not freeze the accounts due to the consequences this would lead to for them and the Chinese market? It's unclear to me what happened and what will be the consequences.

2) Does Facebook (or any other for-profit company) get access to the data (now or ever in the future)?

3) So if I want to send money (from say GBP) to someone in Japan, what would happen? Is the FX exchange seamless or will I need to use some intermediary coin?

2) It's a transparent payment network, so everybody (even you) gets access to the data on the network

3) That's a complicated answer that involves more than just the blockchain (as you need to convert fiat from/to digital currency) so it depends on the VASPs (the wallets) not on DIEM.

2) I don't believe so. 3) The hope is you don't have to use an intermediary coin.

They have declared that they will not access the data.

However, Facebook makes extensive use of shadow profiles of people who aren't even Facebook customers. They could certainly add Diem blockchain data to those, as they will have access to said blockchain via Novi, their Diem wallet.

David Marcus and Mark Zuckerberg have both stated that data from Novi will not go to the Facebook advertising engine. However, Zuckerberg and Facebook's track record on such promises is that they consistently do this anyway. Then Zuckerberg apologises, then he does it again.

Just by looking at Facebook's past behaviour, you can assume that an important purpose for Diem is to collect personal information. Because everything they do is to collect personal information.

As I said elsewhere this is not related to Novi. Novi is just a wallet using DIEM, and will have its own users (like any wallet or bank or trading platform has).

That being said, there is a lot of work being put in making sure that FB doesn't have access to Novi user data. Of course, sometimes one employee's mistake can lead to infringement of a claim, so to avoid that good frameworks have to be put into place.

What other Diem Association members have even announced plans to issue a wallet?

As I understand, that number is presently zero. (Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.) And unhosted wallets won't be allowed - all consumers will need to transact via a Diem Association member. So Diem usage really is 100% Novi for the known future.

Hey David! I'm actually unsure about these so I'd rather not comment besides the fact that Diem being 100% Novi would be bad (or useless) yes.

> Because everything they do is to collect personal information.

Are you really really sure that some of the things Facebook (and Google) does aren't done just to spite us ;-)?

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