Civil Liberties Campaigners Warn Digital Pound Could Be "Detrimental" To Privacy
5 min read
Big Brother Watch, a leading civil liberties campaign group, has published a report arguing that a new digital pound could be “detrimental to people’s privacy” and worry Government could use it to track people’s spending habits.
The paper, titled CBDC: a privacy eroding pound, has claimed a British Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) could be a “disaster for privacy”. The group has urged the Government and Bank of England to rethink the policy before enacting any proposals.
Big Brother Watch’s report will be launched in Parliament on Wednesday, at an event attended by Conservative MP Danny Kruger and Labour MP and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
Its research includes analysis from seven major case studies on trials of CBDC in countries including China, Israel, Jamaica, Sweden, Nigeria, Uruguay and the Eurozone.
The privacy campaign group claimed research from such countries shows that a CBDC cannot offer the same privacy protections as cash, could exacerbate financial exclusion and said the project remains “a solution in search of a problem”.
Susannah Copson, Legal and Policy Officer at Big Brother Watch, said she believed CBDCs have proven to be a disaster for privacy. She added such projects have consistently had a low uptake and poor outcomes paired with “real threats to human rights and civil liberties”.
“Just as has been the case for international CBDC projects, the UK Government is yet to show why we need UK CBDC – particularly given the series of risks to fundamental rights and freedoms,” Copson said.
“It is vital that the Government now take notice of the many problems international CBDC pilots have encountered and rethink their current plans for a centralised digital pound,” she added.
A UK CBDC, informally known as Britcoin, would be a digital version of the pound, provided and supplied by the Bank of England.
It would be used by consumers and stored in virtual wallets run by private banks, and spent like cash. People would not be able to build interest on digital pounds like cash.
Both Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have claimed the rationale behind Britcoin would be to shore up "trust" in British money.
Proponents of a CBDC have claimed a UK CBDC could promote stability in the UK economy at a time when new types of digital money known as cryptocurrencies have flooded the market. They include well-known names such as Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Ethereum.
In its new report, Big Brother Watch has claimed any future CBDC must meet data protection and human rights standards. It said a new digital pound must not be done to the “detriment” of the cash economy which “must be protected”.
To date the current proposals laid out by the Central Bank and Government state any future CBDC would not replace physical cash. The Bank said they will "continue to issue it for as long as people want to keep using it".
Marcus Fysh, Conservative MP for Yeovil, and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on CBDC's, told PoliticsHome he was "very concerned" CBDCs could potentially allow for censorship in the future.
"If it doesn't do exactly the same thing as bearer cash it is no different really to existing forms of digital balances in bank accounts, doesn't have any real non-censorship purpose and shouldn't be used or supported," he said
Kruger, Conservative MP for Devizes, and a member of the Treasury Select Committee, told PoliticsHome CBDC could be an "exciting possibility". However, he said it currently carries "more risks than benefits".
"The Bank and government have not yet shown how the technology will avoid major financial instability and the real danger of invasion of privacy," he told PoliticsHome.
Big Brother Watch stated any future decisions to move forward with a new CBDC must engage with the public and lawmakers. The Chancellor has previously committed to a vote in Parliament if the proposals for Britcoin are brought forward.
It has said a CBDC must be safeguarded in law and individuals must be able to freely choose they use a CBDC. The group also said any "exploration of a CBDC" should maximise people's privacy.
It said a token-based rather than account-based architecture based on a distributed rather than centralised ledger.
However, some senior Conservatives believe a UK CBDC is inevitable, and the Government should embrace one.
Former cabinet minister David Jones, Conservative MP for Clwyd West, told PoliticsHome many people "need to understand" there will be a digital currency, and it should be a success.
“We need to understand there will undoubtedly be a digital currency, but there will also be a high quality British regulatory framework. Given that it’s going to happen we must make sure it’s a success," Jones said.
“You can’t wish away something that is inevitable. We are already accustomed to electronic transactions. We have got to get a system in place that gives absolute assurance to people that their payments will be kept completely private and wholly secure.
“People are already comfortable with electronic transactions run by, for example, NatWest Bank. That it’s run by the state should not be cause for concern,” he added.
A Treasury spokesperson said any form of digital pound launched would be subject to "rigorous privacy standards and data protection" and that neither the Government nor the Bank of England would have access to personal data.
"Any future digital pound would complement, not replace, cash, or other forms of digital payment," they said.
“Following our digital pound consultation, we are now carefully considering feedback and will publish our response in due course,”
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