US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce said financial privacy is becoming increasingly undervalued in US regulation, warning against treating privacy-preserving technologies with suspicion.

Speaking Wednesday at Georgetown Law, Peirce described privacy-enhancing technologies, including cryptographic tools, as legitimate components of modern financial infrastructure rather than tools primarily associated with criminal activity.

Peirce said that protecting financial privacy does not conflict with national security objectives.

“Empowering government to be able to identify, pursue, and punish the bad guys is important to the security of the nation and its people, but so too is empowering people to protect…