By Susie Violet Ward · Forbes · 13 October 2024
In 2024, the UK was preparing for a central bank digital currency pilot planned for 2025, and critics including Big Brother Watch warned that a digital pound could introduce unprecedented levels of state surveillance. Susanna Copson, the group’s Legal and Policy Officer, says the case for a UK CBDC has not been made, and that with the Bank of England ruling out an anonymous digital pound, it risks becoming a “digital spycoin.”
Low uptake of China’s digital yuan and Nigeria’s eNaira is set alongside the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee’s description of the UK proposal as “a solution in search of a problem.” The piece also sets out privacy protections under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998, and reports that one source told Forbes the pilot may be delayed and focus on wholesale rather than retail use.