IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aza/jpss00/y2021v15i3p277-286.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The public, the private and the secret: Thoughts on privacy in central bank digital currencies

Author

Listed:
  • Ballaschk, David

    (Senior Expert, Deutsche Bundesbank, Germany)

  • Paulick, Jan

    (Principal Expert, Deutsche Bundesbank, Germany)

Abstract

This paper discusses the issues surrounding privacy and anonymity in the context of central bank digital currency (CBDC). Most notably, central banks calibrating the design criteria for CBDC must strike a balance between data protection and the individual’s right to privacy on the one hand, and the prevention of financial crime on the other. In this regard, there are — from a technical and governance point of view — a number of possible solutions. By way of illustration, this paper constructs three exemplary and simplified privacy scenarios. The paper also describes the need for standards to ensure the responsible treatment of data, and clear rules guaranteeing that access is restricted to public authorities fulfilling their mandates. When it comes to protecting user privacy in a CBDC system, this paper argues that independent central banks are ideally positioned to serve as an honest broker. In this respect, gaining the public’s trust and acceptance will be a key challenge for central banks.

Suggested Citation

  • Ballaschk, David & Paulick, Jan, 2021. "The public, the private and the secret: Thoughts on privacy in central bank digital currencies," Journal of Payments Strategy & Systems, Henry Stewart Publications, vol. 15(3), pages 277-286, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:aza:jpss00:y:2021:v:15:i:3:p:277-286
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hstalks.com/article/6547/download/
    Download Restriction: Requires a paid subscription for full access.
    File URL: https://hstalks.com/article/6547/
    Download Restriction: Requires a paid subscription for full access.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    central bank digital currency (CBDC); privacy; anonymity; retail payments; central banks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services
    • E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aza:jpss00:y:2021:v:15:i:3:p:277-286. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Henry Stewart Talks (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.