# Privacy Awards 2025: Best News — Longlist

> The Best News category highlights the developments that shaped privacy across technology, law, surveillance, cryptography, infrastructure, and public discourse over the past year.

**Published by:** [Week in Privacy](https://paragraph.com/@web3privacy/)
**Published on:** 2026-02-23
**Categories:** privacy, web3, tornadocash, romanstorm, ethereum
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@web3privacy/privacy-awards-2025-best-news-%E2%80%94-longlist

## Content

From courtroom battles and sanctions reversals to ZK breakthroughs and global regulatory pressure, 2025 made one thing clear: Privacy is no longer peripheral. It is central. Below is the alphabetically ordered longlist of all nominated news items. Keep in mind, this is just alphabetical ranking. Winners will be announced soon.Out of 38 longlisted developments:8 relate to government regulation and anti-privacy legislation7 reflect ecosystem privacy innovation6 center on legal battles and the criminalization of privacy tools5 expose surveillance infrastructure and institutional monitoring5 involve major data breaches or infrastructure failures4 highlight zero-knowledge research and cryptographic advances2 mark a broader cultural and narrative shift toward privacy1 focuses on digital identity expansionThe story of 2025 is not just about leaks or hacks. It is about courts, sanctions, legislation, identity systems, and the normalization of privacy as foundational infrastructure.I. Legal Battles & Criminalization of Privacy ToolsBest News of 2025I. Legal Battles & Criminalization of Privacy ToolsRoman Storm trial & split verdict developmentsTornado Cash trial & legal case developmentsTornado Cash sanctions lifted / removed from OFACSamourai Wallet developers arrested and jailedConvictions of Samourai Wallet developersLegal attacks on privacy developersII. Government Regulation & Anti-Privacy LegislationChat Control: EU proposals requiring mandatory scanning of private communicationsFight over EU Chat ControlDark Enlightenment Acts & Regulations (UK Online Safety, EU Chat Control and more)US state age verification & digital ID laws (LA, UT, TX, MO)Utah Digital Identity Act PassedEU Central Bank announces CBDC developmentsSEC announcing “Project Crypto”GENIUS Act enabling compliant private stablecoinsIII. Surveillance Infrastructure & Institutional MonitoringFlock cameras made accessible via FOI requestsCWA “Workers First Initiative on AI” targeting surveillance harmsTeamsters secure anti-surveillance clause in UPS contractTelegram quietly updates terms to share data with authoritiesKohler’s Smart Toilet camera not actually end-to-end encryptedIV. Major Data Breaches & Infrastructure FailuresChinese surveillance database leak exposing 4 billion records23andMe filing for bankruptcyBybit hack caused by compromised centralized multisig UICloudflare and AWS outages expose fragility of dApp infrastructureTEE security guarantees of Intel & AMD broken cheaplyV. Zero-Knowledge Research & Cryptographic AdvancesProximity gaps conjecture disproven & research progressGoogle using Ligero for ZKPsProgress in Ethereum’s Institutional Privacy Task ForceZKPs integrated into Google WalletVI. Ecosystem Privacy InnovationAztec launches Ignition chainPrivacy Pools launchKohaku wallet announcementVeil Cash announcementSolana launching Confidential BalancesCircle X Aleo collaborationEthereum Fusaka UpgradeVII. Narrative & Cultural Shift Toward PrivacyVitalik Buterin & Roger Dingledine/Tor @ Ethereum Privacy Stack eventVitalik “Privacy Pivot” momentEthereum Foundation prioritizes privacyVIII. Digital Identity ExpansionBhutan Digital ID System integrates EthereumWhat Happens NextThis longlist reflects the community’s view of the most significant privacy-related news of 2025. From sanctions reversals to courtroom battles, from digital ID mandates to cryptographic breakthroughs, this was a year where privacy moved decisively into the center of global debate. Stay tuned for winners announcement. Meanwhile, check other longlists: Best Privacy Project Best Privacy Event of 2025 Biggest Doxxer of 2025

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