Andrew Griffith: “The digital pound will not become a tool for spying on users”

UK Treasury Secretary Andrew Griffith assured that if a digital British pound is launched, it will not be used as a tool to spy on users. Speaking at parliamentary hearings, Andrew Griffith emphasized that the Bank of England has not yet made a final decision on launching its own digital currency. However, if this does happen, one of the priority features of the digital pound will be to preserve the privacy of people.. The platform for the digital pound should work in such a way that the government could not receive data on individual transactions, the MP added. At the same time, this model assumes that the regulator may own confidential data about payment service providers, banks and platforms that provide users with digital wallets.. This information is necessary to prevent money laundering. “The government takes the privacy of user data very seriously.. Therefore, we will not engage in activities that people would describe as surveillance,” Griffith added. More than 100 countries are exploring the possibility of launching their own state stablecoins, and among them is China, which is actively testing the digital yuan. However, the digital currency of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) also raises serious privacy concerns for many.. This follows early statements by PBOC Digital Currency Research Institute Chairman Mu Changchun that the complete anonymity of the e-CNY would hinder the government's fight against terrorist financing and tax evasion.