Official of the ECB June 21, 2021

The board member of the European Central Bank (ECB), Fabio Panetta, has argued that the electronic euro provides better data protection compared to independently developed stablecoins.

Panetta criticized the profit motives of private businesses and worried that the mass collection of information about users is to get their commercial benefit.

“We’re not like private companies,” stated the board member of the Financial Times. “We have no commercial interest in storing, managing or monetizing user data.”

The ECB official also confirmed that the European Central Bank has conducted a test of “offline payments for small sums where no data is recorded outside of the payer’s and payee’s wallets”.

“When the central bank interferes with digital payments, privacy is better protected […] The payment is carried out, but nobody in the payment chain has access to all of the information ”.

Panetta’s comments seem to be targeted at relieving widespread concerns about the collection and processing of data in the usage of fundamental bank-issued digital monies (CBDCs) in consultation with the public, a top-level issue of over 8,000 respondents.

The public consultation, which ran from October 2020 to January 2021, also found that safety and pan-European reach are contentious common issues associated with the electronic euro.

Following the consultation published in January, Panetta, in a letter to the Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), emphasized “privacy protection” as a “priority” that may help maintain confidence in obligations in the digital era. “