Big Brother Watch and New Economics Foundation launch new report, “Big Bank is Watching You: Preserving Privacy Amid the Rise of CBDCs”

Privacy rights campaign group Big Brother Watch and economic think-tank the New Economics Foundation have warned of the risks posed by the rise of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) in a new report, “Big Bank is Watching You: Preserving Privacy Amid the Rise of CBDCs”.

The report examines the privacy concerns associated with CBDCs and considers whether they could be designed in a way that both protects privacy and promotes economic stability.

Although the UK Government has not yet made a case for why a CBDC is needed, the Bank of England is currently considering developing one, ostensibly in response to a decline in the use of cash and the emergence of new forms of money. Yet CBDCs have the potential to upend the public’s relationship with the state and each other by inserting the Government into every transaction we make, raising significant concerns about surveillance and financial control.

Fortunately, there are ways for policy-makers to ensure that any CBDC introduced would contain appropriate privacy and economic stability safeguards by design.

Key report recommendations include:

• The Government should not introduce a CBDC unless a compelling case is made for why one is needed.
• Any UK CBDC should retain the anonymous nature of cash by adopting an e-cash design.
• The Bank of England must ensure that CBDC design does not infer a certain monetary policy stance.
• Prohibition of programmable money without user consent should be embedded in the design of any UK CBDC.
• A UK CBDC should be exempt from paying interest by design.
• Any CBDC that the Bank of England builds should come with hold limits on transactions.

Big Brother Watch Advocacy Manager Matthew Feeney said:

“We are concerned by the growing risks to privacy posed by the rise of CBDCs, which have the potential to enable an unprecedented level of financial surveillance. The UK Government has yet to make a convincing case for why a CBDC would be needed in this country, and should abandon plans to introduce this potentially intrusive and privacy-eroding technology. If the Government insists on moving forward in introducing a CBDC, privacy safeguards must be included in its design, such as those proposed in our new report”.

New Economics Foundation Economist Dominic Caddick said:

“A central bank digital currency comes with a lot of opportunities and a lot of risks, so it needs to be designed well. To protect people’s money and their privacy a CBDC should take a design which resembles the features of cash as much as possible. Its adoption shouldn’t confer a certain monetary policy stance, nor should it pay interest, and transactions must be able to be made as anonymously as possible. Designing a CBDC with economic stability and privacy in mind can maximise the benefits and minimise the risks”.

Notes:

Download the report “Big Bank is Watching You: Preserving Privacy Amid the Rise of CBDCs”.

Big Brother Watch will mark the report launch with an event in Parliament at 3pm on 16 June. Limited press spaces are available by emailing info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk.

Spokespeople are available for interviews. Contact Big Brother Watch’s 24h media line on 07730439257 or email info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk. Contact NEF’s head of comms James Rush at: james.rush@neweconomics.org.

The post Big Brother Watch and New Economics Foundation launch new report, “Big Bank is Watching You: Preserving Privacy Amid the Rise of CBDCs” appeared first on Big Brother Watch.

Source: https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases/privacy-rights-campaign-group-big-brother-watch-and-economic-think-tank-the-new-economics-foundation-have-warned-of-the-risks-posed-by-the-rise-of-central-bank-digital-currencies-cbdcs-in-a-new-repo/