Disclaimer: Everything written in this article is based solely on my personal opinion of the topic being discussed.
Personal Data Protection
Earlier, I came across a news article about a class action lawsuit filed against the Argentinian Central Bank. The lawsuit was to stop the Argentinian Central Bank from collecting information and personal data of customers dealing with cryptocurrencies from local banks.
When I read the title of the article, I was really surprise. From what I understand, banks are not supposed to share their customers’ information to any entity, public or private, even if that entity is the central bank itself.
I don’t know how it works in other countries but in my country, the Philippines, banks cannot share the private information of their customers. And even when banks want to share non-private information, they must first ask permission from their customers.
Since my country’s banking system originally took inspirations from international banks like those banks in the US, I assumed that many countries have similar rules when it comes to customer privacy.
In my opinion, the Argentinian Central Bank’s decision to ask for private information of bank customers should be deemed illegal. I really see no reason for the Argentinian Central Bank to be asking for private information besides using said information to ask for more regulations on cryptocurrency trading.
I always consider privacy to be of utmost importance so when I read articles about entities wanting to get their hand on other people’s private information, I could not help but be pissed.
I’m already dissatisfied that most exchanges required KSC (Know Your Customer) before you could use most of their services. But since KSC was required by the law, I could only grudgingly agree if I want to trade with cryptocurrencies.
Even so, our private information should never be easily shared. What’s more, central banks should not require their country’s local banks to hand over their customers’ information unless ordered by the court.
Banks should at least ensure even the barest of personal data protection to their customers.
Regulations: Should there be more?
It’s no secret that central banks were terrified of cryptocurrencies. There have been many cases of central banks trying to ban cryptocurrencies in their respective country.
Although some managed to do just that, like what the Central Bank of Nigeria did, most failed in their attempts to stop the growing popularity of cryptocurrency.
And since central banks and governments could not get rid of cryptocurrencies, they could only result to regulations.
Regulations... It’s a way for the government to have a modicum of control over cryptocurrencies. Since they could not get rid of it, they might as well profit from it through taxes and acquisitions.
Personally, I’m not that against regulations. Although regulations gave government some control over cryptocurrencies which was against its original purpose of decentralization, it did allow for more stability and trust from skeptics.
Obviously, I would have preferred for a truly decentralized cryptocurrencies but sometimes some sort of compromised was needed.
But the question was, will I welcome stricter regulations? Obviously not.
Although I don’t mind some regulations, I disliked the thought of more regulations, especially strict ones. The point of regulations was to have more control over cryptocurrencies which mean that the more regulation there are, the closer we are from becoming centralized.
The Argentinian Central Bank’s move of asking for bank customers’ private information was obviously geared towards asking the Argentinian government for stricter regulations against cryptocurrencies.
To be honest, I really have no idea how the Argentinian Central Banks would use the collected data of customers to push for more regulations but they should be able to do it if we allow them.
Thankfully, there would always be people fighting against those who would abuse their authorities. And although not all of them will succeed, the fact that there were people fighting for our rights gives me a little peace of mind.
Closing Thoughts
Privacy is basic human rights provided by our respective country’s constitutions. So in my opinion, we should be alarmed when entities like the central banks start infringing on our basic human rights by asking for our private information.
When we choose a bank to transact with, we expect them to protect our private data, and to not easily give them to anyone. We should also be allowed to transact with cryptocurrencies without worrying that banks would freeze our funds.
But from the action of the Argentinian Central Bank, it’s obvious that it didn’t care for the Argentinian people’s privacy. The fact that the Argentinian Central Bank backs up its decision by saying that they have “functions of supervising” domestic payment system to justify their action was proof of that.
But what truly worries me though was that this action of the Argentinian Central Bank becoming a precedence for other country’s central banks to follow suit. If the lawsuit failed and the court rule in favor of the Argentinian Central Bank, then other central banks might start collecting their local banks’ customer data as well.
What do you guys think? Should central banks be allowed to collect the private information of those who transact with cryptocurrencies? Please write your thoughts in the comment section.
Thanks for reading!
Image Source: Pixabay
