Edward Snowden Calls MetaMask’s New Policy Update A “Crime” – Crypto News – Crypto News
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Edward Snowden Calls MetaMask’s New Policy Update A “Crime” – Crypto News

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Consensys, the New York-based blockchain software company and developer of MetaMask, the most popular Ethereum wallet, shocked the crypto community and especially proponents of decentralization with the new modifications made to its privacy policy. Edward Snowden, one of the most influential voices for privacy, called it to be a crime if it happened in a society with justice.

MetaMask’s Privacy Concerns

Consensys revised its privacy statement on November 23 to alert MetaMask’s more than 20 million users that when they transact while utilizing Infura as their default Remote Procedure Call (RPC) provider, their IP addresses and Ethereum wallet addresses will be collected and recorded.

In simpler terms, RPC is a software communication protocol that lets web3 apps talk to blockchains in a completely remote way. Consensys bought Infura, a company that makes tools for blockchains and APIs, in October 2019.

Snowden’s Snarky Remark

Edward Snowden took to Twitter, to show his disappointment with the team at Metamask as he thinks the ploy to record personal details under the tag of “decentralization” is near to committing a crime.

However, the new policy update on Consensys’ website also states that.

“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”

Read More: Edward Snowden Itching To Buy The Bitcoin Dip At $16.5K

Crypto Community Reacts

Based on the community responses, it is clear that most users are not pleased with this news. The major gripe among the crypto community is, crypto companies that are built on the ethos of privacy, anonymity & decentralization are gradually getting lost.

The fact that ConsenSys is an American company also adds to the distrust for certain customers. This is because the collection of such data may make it easier for government authorities to impose fines and sanctions.

MetaMask & Team Respond

Responding to the arguments made by experts and the crypto community as a whole, MetaMask tried to clear the air by stating that nothing had changed in their privacy policy and it was a mere misunderstanding.

Joseph Lubin, CEO of Consensys & Ethereum’s co-founder, also chimed in to fight accusations of stealing user privacy through the MetaMask app. He vehemently denied MetaMask being operated by Consensys and added that it was the end-users who operate MetaMask. Consensys just played its part in developing the software.

Talking about RPC, he pointed out that,

“While the end user may gripe, all sorts of web3 dapps use RPC providers, which also need this data to service users. The alternative is few or no usable products in web3. The direction of travel is decentralization of RPC provision.”

Pratik has been a crypto evangelist since 2016 & been through almost all that crypto has to offer. Be it the ICO boom, bear markets of 2018, Bitcoin halving to till now – he has seen it all.

The content presented may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.

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