The UK Information Commissioner’s Office say they are worried about Libra's data privacy

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has voiced their concerns over privacy for Facebook’s new digital currency, Libra.

The Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham has signed a statement with her counterparts from the US, Canada, Australia and the European Union which stated they “shared concerns about the privacy risks posed by the Libra digital currency and infrastructure”.

Like the US and Swiss, they are asking for more details from Facebook about how it will protect user data. Ms Denham said:

“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,” 

“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."

“We know that the Libra Network has already opened dialogue with many financial regulators on how it intends to comply with financial services product rules. However, given the rapid plans for Libra and Calibra, we are concerned that there is little detail available about the information-handling practices that will be in place to secure and protect personal information.

“I hope this statement will prompt an open and constructive conversation to ensure that data protection is a key part of the design process and that data protection regulators are a key consultative group as the Libra proposals develop.”

I think its a bit obvious that the regulators of the world will have issues with Facebook after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Putting a cryptocurrency on Blockchain is a completely different matter altogether and I doubt they understand the technology. Facebook need to address these concerns on a mass scale and I look forward to hearing from them.