Ever since Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) announced that it was going to come up with its own cryptocurrency last month, the company has faced a whole range of backlash from regulatory bodies not only in the United States but also in the rest of the world. The name of the cryptocurrency is Libra, and although the company is planning to launch it in 2020, the white paper has received its fair share of criticism.
In a fresh development, privacy regulators in the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union have expressed their concerns over users’ privacy issues with regards to Libra.
Multiple Criticisms
The project has already been roundly criticized by lawmakers, regulators, and bankers over the past month and in fact, it even drew the ire of United States President Donald Trump. However, this is a fresh salvo and one that is definitely be a worrying one for Facebook. The company is already beleaguered by a slew of privacy breaches of users on its social media platform, and such doubts will only raise the pressure on Libra. The data protection regulators issued a joint statement expressing deep concerns over the fact that the usage of Libra is going to need a large chunk of personal and financial information of users.
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The statement added that Facebook and Calibra, the subsidiary that handles Libra, have been sketchy with regards to this particular issue. The regulators added that the company has not addressed the questions with regards to the specifics of data handling that is going to be practiced by the company and how exactly the privacy of users is going to be protected. This is a fresh attack on Libra and one that needs to be addressed by the company as soon as possible. If these concerns persist with regards to privacy, then the company could find itself in a very difficult spot with regards to this project.
Featured image: DepositPhotos © TarasMalyarevich
