ConsenSys, an Ethereum-based blockchain firm and owner of the popular wallet MetaMask, has recently updated its privacy policy and Crypto Twitter is furious.
Under the new guidelines, MetaMask’s RPC [Remote Procedure Call] node Infura would collect the user’s IP address as well as wallet address while sending a transaction. MetaMask [by default] uses Infura to get information on and off of blockchains.
Consensys further said. “However, if you’re using your own Ethereum node or a third-party RPC provider with MetaMask, then neither Infura nor MetaMask will collect your IP address or Ethereum wallet address.”
Many in the community have urged users to uninstall MetaMask and migrate to a new wallet.
Just recently, popular decentralized exchange [DEX] Uniswap updated its privacy policy, attracting ire from the decentralized buffs. The concerns were similarly related to collecting and storing user data and how it goes against crypto’s core ethos of user privacy and anonymity.
ConsenSys’s latest privacy policy comes in light of the FTX crisis, an event that brought attention to the need for transparency.
Transparency has now become the buzzword in the industry ever since the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX earlier this month. The once dominant platform was accused of misusing customer assets in risky trading.
Soon after the incident, the crypto entities rushed to win back clients’ faith by promising to be “transparent,” notably by introducing Proof of Reserves in the case of centralized exchanges.
Ethereum Software Firm’s Latest Privacy Policy Has Shined the Spotlight On Transparency
The world’s biggest crypto exchange Binance led the way and accordingly Kraken, Bitmex, Coinfloor, Gate.io HBTC, OKX, KuCoin and a host of other exchanges followed suit.
Ironically, Binance which championed Proof Of Reserves [PoR] in the wake of FTX’s bankruptcy was slammed for an undisclosed $2.7 billion USDT transfer that was initiated less than 24 hours after the audit publication, TronWeekly reported the other day.
A Reddit post by a user called OneThatNoseOne accused the trading platform of not revealing the wallet in their proof-of-reserves article.
The anonymous user urged Binance to take action in offering transparency at a time when users’ confidence in cryptocurrencies is at an all-time low so that people like him don’t have to dig through mountains of data for something they could have easily provided.
