I think @optimism is right about the privacy concern.
After looking through Zap Alerts, I can see why the project is attractive. No account, no API keys, no OAuth, local settings, simple OBS integration, and viewers do not even need a Nostr account to send a Lightning payment.
For streamers, that is a very clean experience.
But the privacy tradeoff is real.
Zap Alerts can display the sender name, amount, message, top zapper, leaderboards, and other activity directly on stream. Over time, that can connect a public Nostr identity with a very visible pattern of financial behavior.
That may be exactly what some streamers and donors want, but I think it should be treated as an explicit privacy choice rather than just a fun notification feature.
I would like to see stronger privacy controls such as anonymous by default alerts, optional sender identity, amount hiding, and leaderboard privacy modes.
The project is useful and well designed, but @optimism is right that making financial behavior social by default can create consequences that are easy to underestimate.
I think @optimism is right about the privacy concern.
After looking through Zap Alerts, I can see why the project is attractive. No account, no API keys, no OAuth, local settings, simple OBS integration, and viewers do not even need a Nostr account to send a Lightning payment.
For streamers, that is a very clean experience.
But the privacy tradeoff is real.
Zap Alerts can display the sender name, amount, message, top zapper, leaderboards, and other activity directly on stream. Over time, that can connect a public Nostr identity with a very visible pattern of financial behavior.
That may be exactly what some streamers and donors want, but I think it should be treated as an explicit privacy choice rather than just a fun notification feature.
I would like to see stronger privacy controls such as anonymous by default alerts, optional sender identity, amount hiding, and leaderboard privacy modes.
The project is useful and well designed, but @optimism is right that making financial behavior social by default can create consequences that are easy to underestimate.