ConsenSys, a Metamask developer and an Ethereum software firm, updated its privacy policy on Nov 24. The policy suggests that the firm collects certain Metamask users’ data such as IP address and their Ethereum address whenever they send a transaction. This development has infuriated privacy-loving crypto enthusiasts.  One of the co-founders of the wallet, however, informed me that this will be “fixed soon.” 

A few days ago, Decentralized crypto exchange Uniswap went in a similar direction and started to collect user data, soon after ConsenSys choose a similar path.

The company claimed that it collects user data only related to user identification, such as contact details and profile information.

The post shared by the company explains that the information is collected by Infura, which is the default Remote Procedure Call (RPC) provider on the digital wallet MetaMask. It stated that “When you use Infura as your default RPC provider in MetaMask, Infura will collect your IP address and your Ethereum wallet address when you send a transaction.”  RPC is a protocol that collects information and data from a program running on a third-party computer server. 

However, financial data will not be collected if one switches to another RPC on MetaMask apart from Infura. ConsenSys offers both the products, blockchain tool developer Infura, and the digital wallet MetaMask.

If a user switches to a different RPC on MetaMask the financial data will not be collected. However, their data will be subject to the privacy policy performed by the RPC provider they want to use.

Blockchain tool developer Infura and the digital wallet MetaMask are both products that are offered by ConsenSys. 

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