On 25 January, the Government released its response to a public consultation on a UK CBDC. The response acknowledged privacy and civil liberties concerns raised by the public and campaigners alike. However, the Government continue to plan for its introduction by next year.
Susannah Copson, Big Brother Watch’s legal and policy officer said:
“It’s puzzling that the Government is pushing ahead with plans to pilot a digital pound despite failing to explain to the public or parliament why one is needed. It’s a solution in search of a problem that could pose serious risks of privacy intrusion, security breaches and inequality in the United Kingdom.”
“The government’s new commitment to introduce laws that would prohibit the state programming digital pounds to control how they’re spent and to protect financial privacy shows that the 50,000 of us that responded to the consultation have had a real impact, although we await further detail to see how robust the legal and technological protections are.”
Cointelegraph – Privacy worries persist as UK’s digital pound CBDC plans progress