ConsenSys, a provider of blockchain software, stated that it will only retain user IP addresses and wallet information for a maximum of seven days.
In an effort to address users’ concerns about the handling of their personal information, ConsenSys announced that it will only store user IP addresses and wallet information for a maximum of seven days.
The company faced criticism in the past for collecting this data. ConsenSys updated its privacy policy last month to reflect that it collects MetaMask users’ IP addresses and wallet addresses when they use Infura, an infrastructure service owned by ConsenSys.
Infura is MetaMask’s default method of connecting to the Ethereum blockchain.
ConsenSys’ recent announcement that it collects users’ IP addresses and wallet addresses when they use the Infura infrastructure service raised concerns about privacy on the network.
There are fears that a combination of on-chain data, such as blockchain addresses and transactions, and off-chain data, such as IP addresses, could be used to identify individuals and reduce the network’s privacy.
In response to these concerns, ConsenSys stated that it intends to limit data collection to on-chain transactions rather than when users simply check their account balances.
This would reduce the amount of data collected. Additionally, ConsenSys said that in a future update it will make it easier for users to add a third-party RPC provider, giving users more options and allowing them to use alternatives to Infura and avoid ConsenSys’ data collection.
