The UK's data protection watchdog has joined with other privacy regulators around the world in calling for more openness about Facebook's proposed Libra digital currency and infrastructure.
A statement to Facebook and 28 other companies behind the project asks them to provide details of how customers’ personal data will be processed in line with data protection laws. It asks for assurances that only the minimum required data will be collected, that the service will be transparent, and requests details of how data will be shared between Libra Network members.
The statement is signed by a cross section of authorities representing millions of people in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australasia. These include the UK’s Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham and her counterparts in Australia, the USA, Canada, Burkina Faso and Albania, as well as the EU’s European Data Protection Supervisor.
Denham expresses concern about the lack of detail available about the information handling practices that will be in place to secure and protect personal information. She wants data protection regulators to be regarded a key consultative group in the design of the Libra architecture.
“The ambition and scope of the Libra project has the potential to change the online payment landscape, and to offer benefits to consumers. But that ambition must work in tandem with people’s privacy expectations and rights," she says. “Facebook’s involvement is particularly significant, as there is the potential to combine Facebook’s vast reserves of personal information with financial information and cryptocurrency, amplifying privacy concerns about the network’s design and data sharing arrangements.