Nicholas Anthony suggested that in the United States, users of digital currencies of central banks (CBDC) may be under close supervision and control by government agencies. He noted that such an example has already been in the history of the United States, and this experience should be considered as a warning to those who are positive about and promote the launch of CBDC.
We are talking about a large-scale surveillance program of the National Security Agency (NSA). For example, when designing an internal surveillance system, it was assumed that any information identifying American citizens would be anonymous by default until measures were required to prevent or solve a crime. Moreover, the authorities would need a court order for deanonymization and identification. However, in fact, the country's authorities have created one of the largest surveillance systems in the history of the United States, which has deeply invaded the privacy of Americans.
Nicholas Anthony's opinion is shared by Chris Meserole, director of the Initiative on Artificial Intelligence and New Technologies at the Brookings Institution.
"I am not worried that the United States will immediately follow this path. But I am very worried that once the CBDC is launched, there will be huge pressure from the authorities to use this system for various security or criminal justice purposes," Meserol believes.
Nicholas Anthony noted that, unfortunately, any CBDC supposedly "privacy-oriented" is likely to turn out to be nothing more than a wolf in sheep's clothing.
He recalled that the heads of central banks, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Director General of the Bank for International Settlements Agustín Carstens, President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey, openly and repeatedly stated that that anonymity and complete confidentiality would not be an option for CBDC.
Earlier, Tom Emmer, a member of the US Congress from the Republican Party, said that the intention of the presidential administration to launch a digital dollar could jeopardize the privacy and freedom of Americans.