By Peter Bergman (MoneyAmped.com)
The European Commission’s (EC) latest ideas for regulating the future central bank digital currency (CBDC) show how important it is to secure people’s data. The plan calls for a sophisticated system that includes autonomous transactions carried out with NFC chips. This provides the highest level of privacy, making transactions impossible to spy on. But is this about absolute privacy or just the appearance of it? We will talk about that in this guide.
Illusory Privacy
As usual for political leaders, this demonstrates respect for the rights of European citizens to preserve their civil liberties. However, some may think that this is just a show of commitment, but in this case, one can be forgiven. Assessing the precise rules of the proposal on how payment service providers should keep records is troubling, especially in light of recent moves by European governments to protect the privacy of cryptocurrencies.
Undeniably, the European Commission, along with the governments of the U.S., U.K., and other prominent liberal democracies, have failed to embrace absolute privacy in digital currencies fully. They want the illusion of privacy, which gives the impression that Western democracies will never engage in the widespread espionage that is said to be going on in China while still being able to reveal users’ real names if needed.
What Is the Difference Between These Two Approaches?
Proponents from Europe strongly support central bank digital currencies (CBDC), which focus on privacy and have the noble goal of returning the beloved idea of free financial independence as a real currency. It should be noted, however, that the current models under discussion in Europe, as pointed out by renowned security expert Lukasz Olejnik, need to be more anonymous than authentic euro banknotes.
When NFC transactions occur offline, service providers must keep careful records of all sensitive information. This includes the exact amount, a unique phone or device ID, the date and time of the transactions, and the account numbers used in the process. When you give a coin to a vendor, you must know how to record your name and address. Does this digital marking take place during the exchange? No.
In the world we now live in, the increasing crackdown on open-source privacy efforts is a clear sign that people are less and less willing to engage in private transactions that no one is watching. This is not just a European problem; it affects many parts of the world. The Netherlands has been heavily involved in the U.S. trial of Tornado Cash, a digital currency-mixing service using Ethereum.
The creator of the open-source software system, Alexey Pertsev, was detained by Dutch officials shortly after the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) made the unexpected decision to put the open-source software system, which is a collection of code rather than a personal or organization, on the foreign sanctions list.
Inadequate Enforcement Actions
Civil rights advocates opposed enforcement action against Tornado Cash as a severe violation of the right to free speech. This has caused fear in the crypto community, which supports privacy. Most coders worry about how intelligence agencies might react, reducing the field’s growth chances.
The legal pressure on privacy-oriented cryptocurrency Zen became so intense this week that the developers gave up and changed the code, stripping it of its natural privacy protections. Zen transactions’ openness was exposed, making me wonder why people worry about such things.
In the Bitcoin world, the introduced rules indicate a need for more planning and knowledge. We are now in an artificial intelligence world where digital systems can obtain massive amounts of data from our digital activities and manipulate us. Privacy technology is a strong shield against outside forces invading our privacy. As our respected leaders are concerned about how AI can be used to spy on us, we should be doing more to help develop these innovative solutions rather than trying to get rid of them.
Let’s talk about how important the Bank Secrecy Act of 1971 was. It ushered in an era of ever-growing regulations that made it easier for the government to keep track of financial activity. This relentless pursuit of compliance has created a complex network of rules that financial institutions must follow. Without eliminating this complex system of regulations, absolute digital privacy will remain elusive.
The proposed change contradicts the basic ideas behind the above monitoring system, which has been carefully designed by governments with the primary goal of reducing money laundering and other illicit financial activity.
Compromise?
This makes us think of the age-old dilemma of giving up the sweet treat but still wanting to eat it: government agencies should give up the false belief that they can protect privacy. These institutions need to realize that, at a basic level, they always need to get information from the people they are in charge of. And with such an open admission, we can start working out a compromise that makes sense.
Unfortunately, the European Commission has shown that it needs to learn how to fully adopt strong privacy measures in the world of digital currencies.
In the world of possibilities, there is a place where a wise and practical government that fiercely protects the rights of its people while doing its part to get rid of bad actors in the financial system could find a good middle ground when it comes to privacy in the area of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
A design like this wouldn’t promise to be as anonymous as cash. Still, it would set up several security and legal barriers that would make it complex and complicated for the government to keep track of users. They could only get in through the “back door” described above in the rarest of situations and with a court order.
Zero-knowledge proofs and other technologies that improve privacy make it easier for such models to work. The respected MIT Digital Currency Initiative and the well-known Federal Reserve Bank of Boston work together on Project Hamilton.
They are working hard to make a plan that puts privacy first for the Federal Reserve to consider carefully. At this point, the work being done is an experiment. It seems likely that the Federal Reserve will need a deeper understanding of how a digital dollar will develop.
But if the United States and European countries don’t do anything, there may be a chance that other governments will step in.
