OK, I'm looking to get into crypto currency, not as an investment, but rather to become familiar with it, as it will be the future beyond cash. I have some serious concerns though over customer data protection. I am in the process of completing my coinbase signup so I can buy BTC, but have stopped for now, because of concerns about the company (I'm in Australia BTW) as it doesn't advertise any company info, address, landline numbers or generic email contacts. Nor are they regulated unlike the USA. Yes, email would be swamped with questions, but their automated query system is pathetic at best (like most). The act of uploading copies of drivers licenses, passports, credit card details is a massive security risk, given there is no information on how that information is encrypted/protected or what happens to the original emails/uploads. Probably printed out and stuck in a filing cabinet... I can well imagine such a site getting hacked - imagine 10's of millions of users getting their bank accounts cleaned out and/or identities stolen. Yes, every man and his dog is jumping onto the biggest bubble since the dotcom bust, but the crash will be a doozy so I have time to play with ;-) The questions is then - what does everyone think about such companies, their security if any, the risks. Happy xmas to all too !
If I could offer any advice to someone starting out it would be to forget online stuff and learn to take care of your own cryptocurrency keys. You will establish a personal wallet with keys that you control and then you keep them OFFLINE forever. That means either a "cold" wallet approach OR a hardware wallet. For simply storing coins a paper wallet is also OK BUT they are terrible for anyone that wants to use their coins regularly. You could use a service like localbitcoins where you deposit cash and receive your coins in a few minutes. Then you transfer the coins into your own wallets where YOU have the control. That is the route I instruct my family members to take. By the way, if you go the hardware wallet route you will not have to worry about malware on your machine. Out of principle you want a clean machine, but malware cannot possibly get inside your hardware wallet and your private keys will remain ONLY yours.
