Introducing: The Electronic Currency and Secure Hardware Act
On Monday, March 28th, US Representative Stephen F. Lynch introduced H.R. 7231, the Electronic Currency and Secure Hardware (ECASH) Act. The bill is cosponsored by US Representatives Jesús Garcia, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Alma Adams.
The ECASH Act would develop an electronic version of the US Dollar for use by the public.
A natural question for any kind of digital interaction these days is: Will it maintain privacy? The fear is that this is just another way that people’s activities, behaviors, movements, and spending can be tracked.
The Fact Sheet about the bill indicates that it has taken into account data privacy. The bill requires that the Secretary of the Treasury include security and functionality safeguards into the e-cash system including anonymity, privacy, and minimal data generation from e-cash transactions.
Furthermore, E-cash must be distributed through secure hardware devices that are secured locally via cryptographic encryption or similar technologies. E-cash transactions must be able to operate in a way that they do not capture personal identifiable information, are not subject to surveillance, are not subject to transactional data collection, and don’t include censorship-enabling features.
The bill would also establish a Monetary Privacy Board that would review the development of e-cash and evaluate the development with respect to the maintenance of privacy.
By all accounts, the bill would utilize the related concepts of privacy by default and privacy by design.
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