Earlier yesterday, Facebook made the existence of its cryptocurrency, Libra, official to the world, and set to launch in 2020. While the new digital currency was created with noble intentions, one US House lawmaker thinks that that its development should be halted altogether.
Maxine Waters, the US lawmaker who cited security and data privacy concerns over Libra, said that any further development of the cryptocurrency should be put on hold. At least until the nation’s Congress and regulators are able to review the issue, as well as summon company executives to testify before them.
Waters’ fears over the matter aren’t technically unfounded. Since last year, Facebook has been mired in a torrent of security breaches pertaining to personal data. Some of these incidents include the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal, to hackers stealing the personal Facebook data of 50 million users and then selling them on the Dark Web. As well reports of the social media platformed allegedly and openly sharing its users’ personal data with several major companies in the internet and technology industry, such as Netflix, Microsoft, Spotify, and Amazon, to name a few.
Waters is also concerned that Libra may just be another medium Facebook is using to flex its social networking muscles. While trying to “achieve dominance in adjacent markets like mobile payments”. Unsurprisingly, the US government isn’t the only expressing doubt about Libra too. To date, the digital currency is already raising concerns with certain country members of the EU.
(Source: Reuters // Image: Reuters)
