[Ethereum] How are Metamask web wallets traceable to owner identity

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When creating a Metamask wallet as a Chrome browser extension, what are all the different identifiers that match the wallet to its owner? Since it takes a password to log into the Metamask wallet, does this mean there is an e-mail associated with the account? Are there logs kept of the IP address where the Metamask was created? What are other identifying features are there?

Best Answer

To connect to Metamask and recover the wallet an user needs respectively a password and a seed :

  • seed (also called mnemonic) : 12 secret words generated from the private key. You should never share these words, as they enable to access your funds. The seed is the only thing one need to recover his wallet.
  • The password : it encrypts the account locally, that means it allows the user to access his account only from the browser where the Metamask extension is installed.

To summarize, when you create a Metamask account, you are given a seed derived from your private key. This seed is encrypted locally in your browser by the password you chose, used to unlock your account. To recover your wallet on another browser/computer you will need your seed that you will encrypt with a new password.

So there is no such thing as mail registration.

What about Metamask and Ip addresses ?

In a previous release, the user account address was automatically shared with visited websites enabling them to link the Ethereum address to the Ip address (more info here : https://github.com/MetaMask/metamask-extension/issues/6325). Since the v7, a privacy mode is enabled by default and Metamask asks the user before sharing the account address with the visited website (more info here : https://medium.com/metamask/privacy-mode-is-now-enabled-by-default-1c1c957f4d57).

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