Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said a new feature rolled out by Company X that reveals the country of an account holder was “dangerous,” echoing the sentiments of crypto users who raised privacy concerns about the feature.
Nikita Via, director of X products, announced the feature was rolled out on Saturday as a way to ensure the integrity of the platform and help users verify information.
Buterin said Sunday that some accounts would eventually “find a way to pretend they’re from a country they don’t belong to,” but said he initially thought the change could have positive effects, such as giving visibility to how people from different communities feel about different issues.
Multiple crypto users expressed concerns that malicious actors could use this feature to more easily track and directly attack high-value investors, among other privacy concerns.
“I’ve thought about this more, and I think our counterparts are right that it’s wrong to reveal your country without consent, without providing an opt-out option or even suspending the use of your account,” Buterin later said.
“In most cases, exposing a country still leaves a great deal of anonymity, but for some people even the slightest leak is dangerous. Their privacy should not be violated retroactively and without recourse.”
sauce: Vitalik Buterin
Crypto industry executives also raise privacy concerns
Uniswap founder Hayden Adams was also adamantly opposed to the new feature, saying, “I hate it. Opt-in doxing is fine, but forced doxing is insane.”
Andrei David, chief technology officer of decentralized finance platform Summer.fi, was also concerned about the privacy implications.
“The problem isn’t showing the country, it’s forcing it to everyone without notice. Privacy-friendly features should always start with the least public settings,” he said.
Cryptocurrency users share how to opt out
Beer said there is a privacy toggle that only shows the region of an account “for people in countries where there are penalties for speech.”
X user “Langerius”, leader of the Web3 community and consulting group Hunters of Web3, said there is a way for concerned users to opt out of the new feature.
“If you want to hide it: 1- Turn it off: Settings & Privacy → Privacy & Safety → Disable Country Display 2- Or switch from Country to Region/Continent in the same menu,” they explained.
sauce: Langelius
Related: VanEck President Questions Bitcoin Privacy and Encryption for Quantum Technology
Some people don’t worry too much about functionality
Other X users were more positive about the new features. Some argue that disclosing the location of an account in a country the size of the United States, with a population of about 350 million people, is unlikely to be easily identified by anyone.
Many more, including crypto venture capitalist Nick Carter, said the feature was needed to prevent accounts associated with overseas users from attempting to interfere in politics by posing as being from a particular country.
magazine: Will Bitcoin reach $200,000 soon or in 2029? Scott Bessent appears at Bitcoin Bar: Hodler’s Digest, November 16-22
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