Do you usually think about the privacy of your information when dealing with cryptocurrency exchanges? Well, research shows you should. It happens that many crypto exchanges collect a large amount of personal data from their customers. Honestly, you should expect that from an institution that is inherently online. The question is how secure is customer data with them?
AVITAR analyzed popular crypto exchanges to find out what data they collect from individuals, how they handle it, and which crypto exchange is the safest of them all.
For any industry that is experiencing growth in popularity and a constant flow of significant amounts of money, it is natural to care about the safety of its customers. Therefore, crypto companies have started to attract the attention of people all over the world, especially in the last few years. But, unfortunately, among these people there was a considerable number of fraudsters who attracted the attention of financial control authorities. This has led to several regulations created to control the operation of crypto companies, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC).
And this, in turn, forces crypto companies to adapt.
The most typical way for companies to verify the identity of their users is to:
Sending a photo of their ID.
Creating a photo of yourself.
Providing their signature.
All these methods do not comply with AML and KYC regulations. In addition, they can easily be provided by fraudsters who have found information on the Internet. Given this, crypto companies have had to turn to identity verification services that collect data from various third parties in order to thoroughly verify an individual intending to use their services.
In order to identify a user of a crypto exchange as a real person, companies have begun to collect certain information, such as:
After the regulations regarding crypto exchanges appeared, companies had to adhere to stricter rules regarding the security of user data. However, double-checking and third-party assistance have shown that the data is more secure.
Multi-step or two-step verification is often used to identify a person when they open an app using a different phone or browser. In these cases, websites send verification codes using one of three options:
Inserting a privacy code into another device that was previously used for authentication;
Request a confirmation code from a third-party application for authentication;
SMS codes that are sent to the phone.
Fraudsters usually use stolen IDs when they need proof of their age. To avoid such a situation, companies use the help of validators. For example, if a person provides a website with verification of their identity, the website may contact third-party organizations that would respond to the request with a simple yes/no.
These two steps keep a person's data safe, show they care about their customers, and keep them informed about what's happening with their personal information. For this, companies post detailed information and legal documents on their website.
A website that uses personal data and provides services to customers must comply with several laws. One is that the website must post certain documents for all users to view, such as:
Cookie notice. If a website uses cookies to track user activity, it is required by law to explain this to the user and ask for their permission.
Terms of use. Users of the website must be made aware of how they should use the website, the general rules for the use of information and the disclaimers regarding the published content.
Privacy policy. Laws regarding the use of user data are strict, so you should consult a lawyer before posting a document on the site.
Terms and conditions. A website must post a document describing all the terms and conditions of its services.
Crypto exchanges may seem like a business that you would think before you trust, and some companies neglect some of the rules regarding the privacy of their users. At AVITAR, we checked some of the most popular crypto companies to see what documents they put on the website.
It seems that the biggest crypto exchanges care about their customers and try to post as much information as possible and follow the rules as best as possible. For example, almost all cryptocurrency exchanges have a Policy pr
privacy, Privacy Notice and Terms of Use. And these documents are posted on almost all the most popular sites.
However, additional documents displayed by crypto companies show an even greater concern for users, such as the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Guidelines (Huobi) and Risk and Compliance Guidelines (OKEX, Kucoin, and Kraken). An important user privacy document that many websites neglect is the Privacy Policy, which only one crypto company, OKEX, has.
The cryptocurrency market is currently one of the fastest growing, so the more people entrust their information to cryptocurrency companies, the more personal data is at risk. Therefore, it is not surprising that cyber security occupies the first place among the discussed topics in online business. Crypto companies are also paying more attention to this. Hacken, a cyber security consultancy, has researched how they approach cyber security and compiled a list of the most secure companies on the market.
The crypto exchange market grows every year and attracts more and more attention. The problem of misuse of personal data by companies is becoming noticeable. However, companies are starting to do more legal work to prevent anything from happening to their users' information. AVITAR takes care of the privacy of users' personal information and prepares crypto exchanges to comply with all GDPR and CCPA regulations. To be a safe company for your customers, you must pay close attention to the laws. There's nothing wrong with having to find an outside company to help you, and our experts at AVITAR are always ready to answer your call.
LinkedIn
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook
Telegram
Medium
