EU data watchdog urges more privacy safeguards for digital euro

The European Union’s data protection watchdog this week called for stronger privacy safeguards in EU draft legislation to underpin a digital euro.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is due to say shortly that it will push ahead with further preparations for a digital euro, one of many central banks across the world seeking to keep ahead of technological advances in payments.

The European Commission has proposed a draft law that would give legal underpinning to the digital euro, but consumers are concerned it will displace cash and allow authorities to track spending.

Approval of the draft law has been slowed down to give more time to address concerns that the digital euro will lack the anonymity of cash for low-value transactions.

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) said on Wednesday that it “strongly recommended” adding to the draft law a privacy threshold for online transactions using the digital euro “under which neither offline nor online low-value transactions are traced for purposes of anti-money laundering and for combating the financing of terrorism.”

The draft law should also “further clarify” the data protection responsibilities of the ECB and of payments services providers (PSP).

“This includes the legal bases the ECB and PSP should rely upon, and the types of personal data they should process for the issuance, distribution and use of the digital euro,” the EDPB said.

The board said it strongly welcomed that digital euro users will always have the choice to pay in digital euros or in cash.

“A high standard of privacy and data protection is instrumental in citizens’ trust in this new digital currency,” said Irene Loizidou Nicolaidou, the EDPB’s deputy chair.