Using Metamask might log your IP address: Here is what you need to know and how to protect yourself

One of the blockchain space's core ethos is the user’s right to privacy. This ethos has been challenged by the parent company of one of the most used wallets and remote procedure call (RPC) providers across the entire blockchain space: Consensys.

ConsenSys updates their privacy policy

On the 23rd of November, ConsenSys updated their privacy policy… but quietly and stealthily.

This additional clause stated that Infura, the tooling suite for creating decentralized applications that connect to Ethereum, will now collect more data.

What data, you ask?

The picture above states that if you use Infura to connect to Ethereum using MetaMask, you are subject to collecting your IP address and Ethereum wallet address.

The biggest issue is that because this update was done stealthily, not many people know this. And because the default Remote Procedure Call (RPC) provider for Metamask is Infura, this means that by default, anyone who uses MetaMask will get their IP address logged.

One thing to note here is this: Because Infura is only for Ethereum, this only affects transactions that run using Infura and not any other chains (ie. AVAX, Polygon, or any others)

How can you protect yourself?

Of course, while you could switch your wallet provider around to protect yourself — and not use Metamask at all — it’s no doubt that MetaMask is the wallet with the most integrations with most of the decentralized applications and tools.

And if switching your wallet provider is too much of a hassle because it will disrupt your quality of life or simply because you love MetaMask, then the next section is for you.

Use a VPN

One way you can prevent your IP from getting logged is simply by using a VPN to obscure your IP address when making transactions. As a general note, any VPN is fine, and here is a list of VPNs that you can try out for yourself if you wish to take this route:

1. ExpressVPN (One of the better VPNs)
2. NordVPN (A contender that is similar to ExpressVPN)
3. TunnelBear (A free VPN with a limited free tier)

Change your Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Provider

This works exactly like how you would change providers in the real world. If, for example, you don’t want a particular mobile phone provider, you would change your mobile phone provider.

The concept here is similar but with more technical steps — with this method, we will change your RPC point from Infura to Alchemy for Ethereum.

1. Your first step would be to create an account for Alchemy here.
2. Once you have created an account and are logged in, head over to “Apps > Create App” using the navigation bar at the top, and click it.
3. Here, you will be presented with a few details to fill in, and you can simply type in any name and description you want. For the chain, you want to select “Ethereum” and for the network, you want to select “Mainnet”. After you are done, click “Create App”.
4. Next, scroll down to find the new app that you have created under “Apps”, and click on “View Key”.
5. You should now see various random links and letters, such as “API Key” or “Websockets”. What you want to do here, is to find “HTTPS” and copy the link using the button on the right.
6. Now, what you want to do is to head over to MetaMask, click on the different chains, and click on “Add a network”. After which, click on “Add a network manually”.
7. Here are the details you should put down
   1. Network Name: Alchemy Ethereum
   2. New RPC URL: The HTTPS link you copied from Alchemy
   3. Chain ID: 1
   4. Currency Symbol: ETH
   5. Block Explorer: etherscan.io
8. And now, you are done! Click on the network name, and you should be ready now, and your IP address won’t be logged whenever you make an Ethereum transaction.

If you don’t like Alchemy, you can also head over to this website to find any other RPC providers that resonate with you: https://ethereumnodes.com/