According to a public consultation on the possibility of a digital euro conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB), the responses of over 8,000 individuals and businesses suggested that privacy was the number one concern for 43% of them, when talking about the issuance of a central bank digital currency.
Fabio Panetta, an ECB board member, declared that the digital euro could meet those requirements without relaxing security standards. The survey also revealed that 18% wanted any CBDC to provide secure payments, while 11% focused on cross-border payments within the European Union. Panetta said, “As I have already mentioned, privacy emerges as the most important feature of a digital euro. Protecting users’ personal data and ensuring a high level of confidentiality will therefore be a priority in our work.”
Cointelegraph reports that the ECB has been exploring privacy enhancing techniques, even before the concept of a digital euro emerged and its research indicated “that a digital system could still be monitored for illicit activity, while still allowing for transparency and privacy.”
A decentralized CBDC is preferable, but unlikely
However, while the ECB may be working on privacy for its CBDC, Anne Fauvre-Willis, chief operating officer at Oasis Labs, thinks that even though the EU has supported the concept of consumer privacy in the past, “that won’t count for much if the digital euro is issued on a centralized system.”
She asked, “Instead of enabling this via a centralized bank, why not empower a decentralized protocol to do this instead?” The obvious answer would be to use the Ethereum blockchain for a digital Euro, so that it would have the same level of decentralization and autonomy as ETH. But if she is right, it appears there is little chance of a central bank allowing all control of its money to be decentralized.
The public will vote for ‘Ease’ over privacy
However she points out that the public’s behaviour may simply go for whatever is easiest, rather than worry about privacy. “In regards to people adopting the digital euro, unfortunately I think ease will win over privacy alone,” said Fauvre-Willis. She added, “Privacy is a feature but it’s not enough to drive people on its own to change their behaviour. Instead for those of us who really believe in privacy we have to simultaneously strive to make compelling and life changing products and as we do we need to put privacy at the centre of what we make.”
Currently, the ECB is still in its research stages regarding a digital Euro, with a final decision expected some time during summer 2021. The region is somewhat behind others in the CBDC race, and need to pick up their pace if it is to compete with other nations’ digital versions of the national currency.