This mini-guide will help you to stay anonymous while using MetaMask.
Bad news happened: MetaMask, one of the most popular Ethereum (ETH) on-chain wallets, can share your data with Infura.
But don’t worry, this can be fixed in two minutes.
What happened?
On Nov. 24, crypto Twitter users noticed a major change in the privacy policy of ConsenSys, the organization behind the MetaMask wallet and Infura blockchain infrastructure provider. According to an update, crypto wallet MetaMask can now track the IP addresses and Ethereum wallet addresses of users who choose Infura as their remote procedure call (RPC) provider.
The problem was that MetaMask used Infura’s RPC endpoint by default, so the vast majority of its users started sharing data with Infura.
Is this dangerous?
Actually yes.
Firstly, exposing your IP address makes it easier for Infura, MetaMask, and ConsenSys to impose geo-restrictions on your account. Additionally, implementing new data tracking practices is inconsistent with the “decentralized” ethos of on-chain wallets.
How can I protect my data from being tracked?
You can change the RPC at any time: technically it’s just a service that simplifies the connection between the blockchain and your wallet.
GetBlock won’t share your IP and ETH wallet address with anyone. That’s why it might be a wise choice to try our free RPC.
How to add GetBlock RPC to MetaMask
The time has come to improve the privacy of MetaMask wallets. It’s completely free and doesn’t require any special programming knowledge.
Step 1. Create your free GetBlock account
Sign up for GetBlock: https://account.getblock.io/sign-up. It only asks for your email address in order to communicate with you. At the same time, you can also register with Google.
Step 2. Grab your API endpoint
After registration you can proceed to use your GetBlock account. You can always make 40,000 requests to all blockchains for free — enough for personal use.
In the ‘Endpoints’ list choose ‘Ethereum’ as the name of protocol and ‘Mainnet’ as the type of network.
That’s it, your exclusive endpoint is added to your ‘Endpoints’ list. Feel free to copy it!
NOTE: This method will work for any blockchain in the “Protocols” list, try them all!
Step 3. Add it to MetaMask
Open your MetaMask Wallet, log in, click on the “Networks” listing and select the “Add Network” option.
In the Add Network menu, select Add Network Manually. Then paste the endpoint address from your GetBlock account into “New RPC URL” and fill in the other fields as follows (see the form for more information):
That’s it, GetBlock becomes the new RPC provider for your wallet that truly cares about your privacy and will never share your sensitive information.
Now you can continue using MetaMask as before the update.
If you’re interested, don’t hesitate to create your first ERC-20 token on the Ethereum testnet.
Stay tuned for more guides from GetBlock.
