MetaMask: Crypto wallet responds to privacy scandal

There has been an outcry in the crypto world over the past week. The reason: The leading wallet MetaMask collects the data of its 31 million users when they use the network via the Infura service. It is set by default. This was announced by ConsenSys, the company behind both services. Many saw this as a swan song to one of Web3’s core promises: the right to privacy. And called for turning away.

ConsenSys is now updating the guidelines in a blog post. One wants to take the criticism seriously and also clear up “misunderstandings”. It states: “We are committed to protecting the privacy of the users of our products so that our users are not – and ultimately cannot be – betrayed by another centralized entity.”

And further: ConsenSys only saves user data for transactions. And this only for a maximum of seven days. “We have never and will never sell our users’ data,” the company promises. “We only use the data to ensure compliance with our privacy policy.”

In addition, it will be easier to switch to an alternative service for MetaMask in the future if users do not want to use Infura by default. Over the next week, new settings will be unlocked that will allow users to choose their own service. “Ultimately, a user with the highest privacy standards should be able to access MetaMask without ever encountering a server they didn’t choose.”

ConsenSys is one of the big players

MetaMask’s controversial privacy update came shortly after Uniswap, the largest decentralized crypto exchange, also announced a new privacy policy. Earlier this year, ConsenSys, the company behind MetaMask and Infura, raised over 450 million in a Series D round. With an evaluation of seven billion US dollars, it is one of the largest players in the crypto space. ConsenSys was created by Joseph Lubin, one of the co-inventors of Ethereum.