Why is MetaMask collecting my user data, Dan Finlay?

With 31 million active users, MetaMask is the central bridge into the world of cryptocurrencies, especially for Ethereum. The rumor mill has been bubbling for two years: will the company soon launch its own token? At the same time, MetaMask attracted strong criticism in November 2022. It collects user data. Critics ask themselves: To what extent is the project even better than its big adversary, BigTech? We spoke to one of the co-founders, Dan Finlay, about these and other pressing questions. You can read the whole interview in the upcoming March issue of BTC-ECHO magazine.

BTC-ECHO: Crypto has always had the reputation of being a big fraud machine, at least again since FTX and Co. Do you sometimes find it embarrassing to work in this industry?

Dan Finlay: I do have moments of embarrassment. If I tell strangers at a party that I work for a crypto wallet, they’ll probably think I’m some kind of snake oil salesman. I can well imagine that many in crypto would prefer to say first: I work in the software industry.

Cases like FTX destroy public confidence in our industry, its entire reputation. These scams are lumped together with projects like ours, which actually want to be an alternative to exactly these structures. To an outsider, all of this is crypto. This also leads to undifferentiated and harsh regulation. And that could set our efforts back many years.

BTC-ECHO: A MetaMask token has been discussed for several years. is he coming this year

Finlay: We launched a token for voting in our DAO. But of course that’s not the one everyone always asks about. We are open to the idea if a token makes sense for our ecosystem. Most of the proposals for this so far do not convince me. We’re researching the matter. But nothing to announce at the moment.

BTC-ECHO: MetaMask announced in November 2022 that it was collecting user data. The reactions to it were very harsh. What is the difference between you and Big Tech anyway?

Finlay: That was a very unfortunate announcement. There was an infrastructure that collected IP data to ensure the efficiency of transactions. I wasn’t even aware of it. We had to adjust our data protection guidelines at the time to ensure that we are transparent.

We have since made it clear: we do not store the data for more than three days and do not collect or sell it. We also offer alternative nodes in case people don’t trust us. In retrospect, I think we could have foreseen the outrage. There are many rebels in crypto. You get angry at this behavior. For them we are now the bad guys.

As soon as I realized that we were storing this data, I said: We shouldn’t be doing this. We are working to improve privacy. There will be more announcements about this.