In November ConsenSys, the blockchain company behind Metamask, amended its policies to allow Metamask's Infura network to begin storing the IP and ETH addresses of network users.
Metamask users and Crypto Twitter were outraged by the move.
On December 6, ConsenSys released a statement clarifying its decisions.
ConsenSys clarifies Metamask policies
After crypto traders found out about Metamask’s new policies many Metamask users decided to use a different wallet provider or change from Metamask’s Infura network to Alchemy.
On December 6, ConsenSys released a statement to clarify Metamask Infura’s updated policies. According to ConsenSys, the new policies were implemented to provide greater transparency.
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From the statement:
We are committed to protecting the privacy of people who use our products so that they will not—and, ultimately, cannot—be betrayed by yet another centralized entity.
ConsenSys stated that they will not store wallet account information, including IP addresses, when Metamask users make “read” requests using Infura. Read requests include checking Metamask account balances.
The company then stated that they will only store IP and ETH addresses if a user makes a “write” request. Write requests include transactions done through the Infura network.
The purpose of this collection is to ensure successful transaction propagation, execution, and other important service functionality such as load balancing and DDoS protection, as provided by Infura
We retain and delete user data such as IP address and wallet address pursuant to our data retention policy. We are working on narrowing retention to 7 days and we will append these retention policies to our privacy policy in an upcoming update
ConsenSys claims that it will never sell the user data it collects. Metamask users and crypto traders have called ConsenSys’s policies invasive.
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