Data Protection Committees Are Urging Facebook to Enhance Libra's Privacy

Data protection committees in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and several other countries said that Libra's cryptocurrency, proposed by Facebook (Facebook Inc.), could pose a risk to the privacy of its users.

In a joint statement published on Monday by the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), data privacy commissioners from Australia, Albania, Burkina Faso, Canada, the EU, the U.K., the U.S., shared concerns that "while Facebook and [its crypto wallet-focused entity] Calibra have made broad public statements about privacy, they have failed to specifically address the information handling practices that will be in place to secure and protect personal information.", Coindesk reported.

They also raised concerns and asked the social media giant for tighter data protection safeguards as well as details on the internal work of data retention. Regulators noted that the list of replies to the questions submitted was not "exhaustive", adding that individual data protection authorities could ask Libra's representatives for further clarification.

David Marcus, head of Calibra on Facebook, said earlier that Libra would not be launched until it had received regulatory approval and fully addressed all concerns about the digital currency.