MetaMask, a popular Ether (ETH) wallet and browser extension, has just released a new major application upgrade.
Announcing the news on July 2, MetaMask outlined that the new update, MetaMask Version 8, offers a number of new features like enhanced privacy control and a new account-login system.
MetaMask users can now switch between several accounts to protect privacy
MetaMask’s new “Unparalleled Privacy Control” feature is focused on protecting private user information while connecting the app to a certain website. As such, MetaMask V8 offers users to select one or more accounts for a certain website or even create a new account specifically for that website.
“You decide what each site has access to,” MetaMask said, opposing the technology to other wallet apps. The firm believes that the majority of online crypto wallets in the market are vulnerable to disclosing private data by providing a single account.
MetaMask wrote:
“Most wallets today either manage a single account, or expose the currently selected user current account to all connected sites — broadly revealing users’ private information.”
The privacy update uses EIP-2255 permissions system
The new account-login update is based on MetaMask’s proprietary permissions system, known as EIP 2255. First described in August 2019, the EIP 2255 enables users to easily revoke and disconnect accounts when signing into a website, keeping that account signed in, and allowing the user to stay logged in on different websites with different accounts simultaneously.
According to the firm, the new and enhanced permissions will enable more features like decryption, access to wallet information like tokens or contacts, as well as lays out the foundation for the so-called MetaMask Snaps. Introduced in October 2019, MetaMask Snaps represent Metamask's own plugin system allowing users to request a variety of powerful wallet APIs from MetaMask.
MetaMask’s security set of tools, LavaMoat, finally goes live
Alongside this new account-login update, MetaMask has also introduced some encryption features for developers and boosted the app's security with its new LavaMoat tool. Revealed in late 2019, LavaMoat is a new set of tools for securing JavaScript projects against attacks seeking to steal users’ private keys. According to the firm, the first LavaMoat protected process is now live and in production as MetaMask now has its ropsten test-network faucet secured with this system.
The new privacy updates apparently come in response to an alleged data privacy breach experienced by MetaMask before. As reported in March 2019, Metamask was broadcasting ETH addresses to all visited websites as users were surfing the web in default settings.