During a virtual video session at the 30th annual conference of the Bank of Finland Institute of Emerging Markets, the Governor of the People’s Bank of China Zhang Yi discussed the latest developments related to the country’s digital bank digital currency, or CBDC, also known as the digital yuan (e- CHINESE YUAN) … Chan specifically addressed the privacy issue surrounding Digital Yuan in the following statement translated by Cointelegraph:
We place great emphasis on issues related to the security of personal information and the digital yuan, and have made appropriate organizational and technological changes to achieve this goal. We have applied the principle of anonymity for small transactions in relation to the digital yuan and will only intervene to regulate large transactions by law. When it comes to collecting personal information, we strive to collect only what is necessary and the minimum required by law, which is much smaller than existing electronic payment applications.
Chan talked about storing and using technology users’ personal information, adding:
At the same time, we strive to strictly control the storage and use of personal information. Except as required by law, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) will not share this information [about e-CNY users] with third parties or government agencies. In recent years, China has adopted several laws aimed at ensuring the security and protection of personal data from a regulatory perspective.
In recent months, the number of people with e-CNY accounts has grown to over 140 million. Meanwhile, in October, the transaction volume exceeded 62 billion yuan ($ 9.7 billion). While discussing the next steps for the CBDC, Zhang explained that although the Chinese e-yuan is still largely limited by China’s retail spending, there are plans to expand overseas:
PBoC wants to work with central banks, international agencies and cryptocurrency organizations around the world. We have already launched the mCBDC bridge with the Bank for International Settlements, the Bank of Thailand, the UAE Central Bank and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. We also started technical discussions with the European Central Bank regarding the design of the central banks’ digital currencies.
