Metamask addresses privacy concerns with new features for enhanced control

Web3 wallet app Metamask has introduced a fig of caller features aimed astatine enhancing privateness and giving users much control, according to a March 14 blog station by the developer. The caller features travel aft Metamask had antecedently been criticized for allegedly intruding connected users’ privacy.

— MetaMask (@MetaMask) March 14, 2023

Previously, Metamask utilized its Infura RPC node to link to Ethereum automatically, whenever a idiosyncratic archetypal acceptable up the wallet. Although the idiosyncratic could alteration the settings later, this inactive meant that the user’s nationalist code was transmitted to Infura earlier they had a accidental to alteration their node, according to a study from Ethereum node relation Chase Wright.

Infura is owned by Metamask’s genitor company, Consensys.

Under the caller mentation of Metamask extension, labeled “10.25.0,” users are prompted with the enactment to usage an “advanced configuration” during setup. Choosing this enactment reveals a fig of settings that tin beryllium configured, including 1 that allows the idiosyncratic to take a antithetic RPC node than the default Infura one.

In summation to letting the idiosyncratic participate their ain node details, the “advanced configuration” dialog container besides allows them to crook disconnected incoming transactions, phishing detection, and enhanced token detection. These features necessitate information to beryllium sent to third-parties specified arsenic Etherscan and jsDeliver, according to the app’s UI. Users acrophobic astir privateness tin present crook disconnected these features during setup if they privation to.

According to the post, the caller mobile mentation of Metamask besides includes privateness enhancements. Previously, the app did not let users to link 1 relationship to a Web3 app portion leaving different relationship disconnected. The idiosyncratic lone had the enactment of connecting each of them oregon nary astatine all.

However, the caller mentation allows users to prime which peculiar accounts they privation to link to an app, without disclosing the different addresses they control.

In its post, Metamask stated that it has ever intended to sphere privateness for users and that it believes these caller features align with these values, stating:

“Data exploitation goes against MetaMask halfway values. Instead, we judge successful equipping our assemblage with the founding principles that usher our development—true ownership and privacy[…]We are committed to protecting the privateness of our users truthful that you volition not, and ultimately, cannot beryllium exploited by yet different centralized entity.”

On November 23, Metamask became heavy criticized successful the crypto assemblage for releasing a privateness argumentation that stated it would collect IP addresses from users. Consensys responded to the disapproval connected Nov. 24 by saying that RPC nodes person ever collected IP addresses and that the substance of the privateness argumentation was not new, though the connection utilized successful it had changed. On Dec. 6, Consensys announced that IP addresses collected done Infura would nary longer beryllium stored for much than 7 days.