He just wanted his privacy. On HN, I am kind of surprised that had to be explained. Is that not the norm we are fighting for when discussing such things?
It makes sense though, so many people run companies that sell, exploit, mismanage, abuse user data, or outright ignore privacy issues that it's bound to leak into HN as well. It's unfortunate.
What was the benefit to having no electronic record? Was he a lawyer for the mob?