On the 24th of November 2022, Hayden Adams, the creator of Uniswap, came out to inform users that the project does not track their IP addresses.
If people read our our blog post instead of angry Twitter threads they would realize Uniswap web app both:
1) does not track IP
2) actually prevents your IP address from being tracked by third party apis like infura and trm using a proxy server pic.twitter.com/EnEqWjgDbi— hayden.eth 🦄 (@haydenzadams) November 24, 2022
He started by highlighting relevant terms of their privacy on their blog. Stating that they don’t collect personal data, emails, or IP addresses. They are committed to improving security and anonymity.
Added to that, they also built a reverse proxy server. This feature stands between the user and third-party tools, ensuring the application cannot read the user’s data, adding an added layer of security.
This was necessary due to the activities of Infura. While some users tried to clarify the details of Uniswap’s policies, others simply reacted to the suggestion that IP addresses were being collected. Infura is a Web3 project that provides developers with all the tools and infrastructure needed to deploy and scale their blockchain applications quickly. Thus they are a necessary third-party tool for some blockchain projects.
Though Uniswap does not collect personal data, they collect certain on-chain and off-chain information. That includes public on-chain data and off-chain information like device type, browser version, and more. The purpose is to make data-driven decisions that improve user experience.
According to Uniswap Labs, their project also collects information from the device’s local storage, mobile deviceID, web cookies and beacons, and other similar tracking technologies to remember tokens you import, prefer, or add to your shopping bag, among other things.
Hoping to add opt-out of analytics setting soon for people who want to be excluded from tracking of the non-personally identifiable stuff that we use for improving our product (stuff like iOS vs android)
In the meantime, you can do this already with an adblocker..
— hayden.eth 🦄 (@haydenzadams) November 24, 2022
He also hinted at possible future updates that allow users to opt-out of analytics settings. This means that users who don’t want to provide non-personal information can be excluded from the tracking. On the offside, they wouldn’t be part of the users assisting to improve Uniswap’s services whether they use iOS or android.
Yet, until the upgrade is available, users can still achieve the same level of protection with adblockers. Uniswap users criticized the announcement because the project is meant to be decentralized, and anonymity is supposed to be a basic feature.
