The company behind MetaMaskthe world’s most popular cryptocurrency wallet, has updated its privacy policy and, as part of the new provisions, will begin collect IP addresses of your users starting today.
The update affects users who use the infura as a “remote procedure call” (RPC) provider in MetaMask, the default RPC provider in all wallets. What is very important – according to published information, is that MetaMask users have the option to change Infury’s RPC to any other provider – then your data will not be collected by Consensys. However, says the company, they still “will be subject to any information collection policies of the new RPC provider of your choice.”
A section of the post describes the information collected:
“When you use Infura as your default RPC provider on MetaMask, Infura collects your IP address and your Ethereum wallet address when you send a transaction.”
In addition to IP, Metamask may collect through Infura, data provided by the user, such as identity information (name, gender, date of birth, etc.), profile information (including username and password), contact information, financial and transaction information, among others. There is also data that is collected automatically, such as log data and browsed pages and resources, as well as information obtained from other third-party sources. The company also informed that it has appointed a Data Protection Officer, whose role is to ensure compliance with “the responsibilities arising from the applicable data protection legislation”.
Users criticize
The news about MetaMask’s new policy quickly spread across the internet and caused a fair amount of collective outrage. A lawyer and defender of decentralization called the collection of IPs “sinister” and argued that such provisions in the company’s privacy policies cannot be ignored, because, in his opinion, they make part of small steps towards full control of government financial institutions about the “unconscious of this world.”
In groups and social networks, wallet users said they were disgusted with the situation, stating that they will stop using the platform to use other solutions.
“It’s just bizarre how centralized the industry is,” said one user on Reddit.
“Not bizarre, actually quite unavoidable when you think about it. Governments/regulators are not going to let decentralization go as they have in recent years and this bear market is the best time for them to crack down. Therefore, they are doing everything possible to force the big players to comply, otherwise these companies (e.g. metamask) will not be able to operate.” – said another. Concern about IP collection is justifiable because, in a sense, governments could obtain the identity of cryptocurrency holders through IP, which is counterintuitive to cryptocurrency ideas. Furthermore, cryptocurrencies were created with the benefit of anonymous use, the collection of IPs therefore completely excludes anonymity.
