Vitalik Buterin warns that X’s Geo-Inference Tool threatens privacy

The Ethereum co-founder says location leaks can harm vulnerable users, even if only general regions are exposed.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called for X to reconsider its new geo-inference system.

The call comes as increasing attention is paid to the way technology companies collect and use customer data.

Buterin highlights privacy risks in X’s country labels

Social media platform However, not everyone fully supports the update, with Buterin foreseeing some negative long-term effects.

The 31-year-old, a long-time advocate for decentralization and privacy, said on X, labeling accounts by country would yield mixed results. He explained that while it could provide short-term benefits, advanced users could easily spoof their location using rented passports, phone numbers or IP addresses.

Geoinference systems are created to determine an individual’s location without GPS, by analyzing information such as IP addresses, device settings and online activity.

The Ethereum co-founder further predicted that within six months of this feature, political troll accounts from different regions would likely appear as if they were from the United States or the United Kingdom.

He added that while revealing the general area usually leaves people largely anonymous, even small leaks can put some at risk, and their privacy should not be taken away without a way to protect themselves.

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Geo-inference should be optional and transparent

Buterine has that too suggested that geo-inference should have an opt-in choice and be transparent. “I’ve thought about this more and I think the respondents are right that it’s wrong to reveal the country without consensus without offering any opt-out option (not even “stop using your account”),” he wrote.

He went on to explain that what would be ideal is a system that gives people a clearer understanding of how different communities think, in a way that is difficult to manipulate. However, he admitted that it would be very difficult to achieve this.

The programmer has long advocated privacy in Ethereum, because he believes that everyone should be able to use the network safely and anonymously. Earlier this year, he proposed a roadmap to easily process private transactions and hidden activities using tools like stealth addresses, mixers and zero-knowledge proofs, without changing the entire system.

He also recently introduced the GKR protocol to reduce the cost and increase the scalability of ZK proofs, which form the foundation of Ethereum’s privacy and scalability infrastructure. This feature supports private finance, secure voting and digital identity more efficiently, while keeping user data safe.