Von Ralf Keuper

Wie kann der Schutz der Privatsphäre der Menschen gewährleistet werden, wenn demnächst Digitales Zentralbankgeld, wie ein Digitaler Euro, im Einsatz ist? Dieser Frage geht die Bank of England in dem Diskussionspapier Central Bank Digital Currency. Opportunities, challenges and design nach.

A CBDC payment system would need to be compliant with AML and CFT regulations and requirements. This means the identity of CBDC users would need to be known to at least some authority or institution in the wider CBDC network who can validate the legitimacy of their transaction. In the platform model, one possibility is that the core ledger only stores pseudonymous accounts and balances, but that each account in the core ledger is linked to a Payment Interface Provider who knows the identity of each user. Payment Interface Providers would be responsible for applying AML checks to users, and for reporting suspicious transactions to the authorities.

This arrangement means that the Bank would not hold granular personal data on any user, reducing the privacy concerns that could arise in connection with holding personal user data, but AML requirements could still be met by the CBDC system as a whole.

Die Zuständigkeit für die Verifizierung der Nutzer läge bei den Payment Interface Providern. Weitere Rollenmodelle sind denkbar.

AML responsibilities could be handled entirely by the Payment Interface Providers. However, it is also possible that new business models could emerge with dedicated firms that verify users’ identity and use new techniques to identify suspicious activity. The field of digital identity is currently experiencing significant developments. Therefore, the current model, where payment providers apply AML using their own systems, does not have to be the only model in use if CBDC is eventually introduced.