A Change.org petition was created on September 12 to oppose the use of Chainalysis forensic services by federal agencies. The petition questioned the accuracy of Chainalysis and raised legal questions related to the blockchain data analysis company's activities.
The petition, started by "Stop Chainalysis," claimed that Chainalysis' software helps law enforcement's crime prevention efforts "by linking the real world with crypto payments." He stated:
"We believe that the use of scientifically unproven software and allegedly inaccurate methodologies to implicate people in the occurrence of crimes puts people's right to financial privacy at risk."
The petition claimed that Chainalysis's findings do not meet the Daubert Standard for expert testimony in US courts established by the US Supreme Court in 1933, that its error rate is unknown, that it has not been subject to peer review and potentially uses flawed methodology.
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Technical problems with the service lead to potential privacy violations, the petition argues:
"As anyone can be implicated by such software, regardless of their involvement in criminal activity, individuals and entities cannot expect their financial information to remain private."
The use of untrustworthy technology constitutes a violation of the probable cause requirement of the Fourth Amendment for the issuance of a search and seizure warrant and of the Bank Secrecy Act, to which exceptions are granted based on the presence of suspicious activity , said.
Hey @chain analysisThe next time you try to call someone who is not qualified for being denied FED membership, maybe make sure the denial letter doesn't mention inadequacies in preventing AML violations in your own software as a reason for rejection. https://t.co/eqv7KtXcU7 pic.twitter.com/i6wh8qJy4E
— L0la L33tz (@L0laL33tz) September 9, 2023
The petition listed seven US federal agencies that had used Chainalysis' services.
The request was the first. advertised by Lola Leetz, a pseudonym stylized as L0la L33tz, who has been an outspoken critic of the company. She is not alone in criticizing her. In August, CipherTrace Director of Investigations and Intelligence Jonelle Still submitted a report in the case of the United States against Roman Sterlingov who claimed that Chainalysis technology was improperly used to link Sterlingov to cryptocurrency mixer Bitcoin Fog.
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