Can Facebook Address Privacy Concerns on Libra?

Can Facebook address privacy concerns on Libra? The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing titled “Examining Facebook’s Proposed Digital Currency and Data Privacy Considerations” on 16 July, as reported by MarketWatch on 19 June.

The recent release of Facebook’s whitepaper on Libra token has raised some serious concerns among governments and regulators. For instance, the chairwoman of the United States House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters questioned the reliability of Facebook to protect data privacy. She said, “Facebook has data on billions of people and has repeatedly shown a disregard for the protection and careful use of this data.”

Maxine also demanded that the Facebook Libra project should be ceased immediately. She said, “Given the company’s troubled past, I am requesting that Facebook agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on developing a cryptocurrency until Congress and regulators have the opportunity to examine these issues and take action.”

The French Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire emphasized on “ask for the guarantee” from Facebook to avoid diverting the transaction for terrorist financing or any other illegal activities. Bruno added that the stablecoin Libra should “remain in the hands of the States and not of the private companies which answer to private interests.”

Facebook had partnered up with several global corporations in launching the Libra Coin, including PayPal, UBER, Lyft, and Mastercard, etc. The Libra coin is expected to be governed by a group of qualified partners instead of Facebook, which aims to create an independent payment system without the price fluctuation like Bitcoin.

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