Crypto Exchange Privacy Scorecard: Who Collects the Most, Keeps It Longest, and Shares It Widest
Most crypto users obsess over prices and gas fees. Very few stop to ask the quieter question:
“If I KYC with this exchange, who ends up with my data… and for how long?”
This article actually answers that, instead of just hand-waving at privacy policies.
We’ll look at six major centralized exchanges:
- Coinbase
- Kraken
- Gemini
- Crypto.com
- Binance.US
- OKX
And we’ll answer three concrete questions:
- Who collects the most data?
- Who keeps it the longest?
- Who shares it the widest?
🧮 How this “scorecard” works
This is a policy-level comparison – based on what exchanges admit in their privacy and financial-privacy notices – not a security audit.
The dimensions:
- Data scope – what they collect beyond basic KYC
- Retention – what they say about how long they keep it
- Sharing – both commercial (ads, analytics, bots, AI vendors) and regulatory (banks, regulators, law enforcement)
Instead of pretending we can produce precise numbers from ambiguous policies, we use tiers:
- High – clearly more expansive/aggressive than peers
- Medium–High – roughly typical, with some extras
- Medium – still heavy, but less expansive in scope or language
You’ll see the scores first, then the reasoning.
📊 Quick tier table (who does what, at a glance)
| Exchange | Data collected (beyond basic KYC) | How long they keep it (based on policy) | How broadly they share it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coinbase | Medium–High – full KYC, extensive financial, device and usage data, plus communications in some contexts. | High – GLBA financial records and AML; continues sharing for “everyday business purposes” after account closure. | High – ad/analytics “sale/share” under state law plus broad financial sharing and regulator access. |
| Kraken | Medium – full KYC, bank and transaction data, IPs, special attention to sanctioned-country IPs. | High – explicitly refers to retaining key records around 5+ years for AML and longer when required. | Medium – strong regulator/law-enforcement cooperation; more conservative on ad-tech “sale/share” language. |
| Gemini | Medium–High – KYC, financials, rich online activity and user chats with bots. | Medium–High – “as long as reasonably necessary” for services, legal obligations and marketing (until opt-out). | High – admits selling/sharing identifiers and online activity for analytics/ads; supports Do Not Sell/Share and Global Privacy Control. |
| Crypto.com | High – KYC, transactional, technical profile and explicit biometric data; GLBA financial records. | High – GLBA plus AML; GLBA-covered data carved out from standard deletion rights. | High – partners may use data for their own purposes; acknowledges practices that qualify as “sale/share” under state law, plus GLBA sharing. |
| Binance.US | High – KYC, financials, device and usage analytics, blockchain data and explicit facial geometry biometrics. | High – retains biometric data for legally required financial-retention periods; other data “as long as necessary” for AML, tax, disputes. | High – treats some tracking as “sale/share” for targeted ads; GLBA-style sharing for everyday business purposes and compliance. |
| OKX | Medium – KYC, transactional, device and location data; cross-border transfers spelled out. | Medium–High – GDPR-style “as long as necessary” plus AML; no concrete year count, but similar regulatory constraints. | Medium – uses service providers and “legitimate interests” for marketing; less explicit about “sale/share” labels but fully cooperates with regulators. |
Now let’s unpack each of your three questions.
🪪 Who collects the most?
All six collect the classic centralized-exchange bundle:
- Full KYC identity: name, address, date of birth, government ID
- Financial data: linked accounts, balances, transaction histories
- Basic device/usage data: IP addresses, cookies, log-ins, click paths
The divergence begins with biometrics, behavioural exhaust, and whether they explicitly hoover up communications and more exotic signals.
Top tier: Binance.US and Crypto.com
These two stand out for how bluntly they describe their data scope.
Binance.US
- Treats biometric data – notably facial recognition/geometry from selfies and videos – as a distinct category.
- Pairs that with audio/visual data, detailed device and usage data, and blockchain activity (wallet addresses, transaction IDs, timestamps).
- The net effect: a very dense identity graph per user.
Crypto.com
- Lists identity, financial, transactional, technical, profile and biometric data in its US materials.
- Explicitly ties this to KYC providers, law enforcement and financial partners.
Both are basically saying: “We don’t just know who you are and what you trade. We also have your face, your devices, and all the context around your activity.”
Close behind: Coinbase and Gemini
Coinbase
- Enumerates identifiers, government IDs, financial information, trading and payment history, device IDs, IP addresses, and online activity.
- In some contexts, treats communications content (such as messages sent to Coinbase as the intended recipient) as personal or sensitive information.
Gemini
- Same KYC/financial baseline, but adds a twist:
- User interactions with bots are explicitly in scope.
- Those bots can be powered by third-party vendors and trained on user inputs via AI.
So Gemini’s data universe includes the substance of user chats, not just the bare operational metadata.
Still heavy, but less ornamental: Kraken and OKX
Kraken
- Collects KYC, bank and transaction records, IP addresses and device data.
- Pays special attention to IP addresses and logs from sanctioned countries for sanctions screening and long-term retention.
OKX
- Collects identity, financial, transactional, device and location data, and flags cross-border transfers (EU, US, Asia, etc.).
- Doesn’t give biometrics their own marquee category in the same way some others do.
They are not “light” – they’re just not leaning into the biometrics-and-AI language as hard as Binance.US, Crypto.com, Gemini.
Answer to Question 1 – Who collects the most?
On policy, Binance.US and Crypto.com are the most clearly data-hungry: explicit biometrics plus KYC, finance, devices, usage, and chain data.
Coinbase and Gemini are just behind them, with rich behavioural and communications data.
Kraken and OKX still collect a lot, but their disclosed categories are slightly leaner and less emphasised.
⏳ Who keeps it the longest?
Here, the real story is that everyone is pinned to the same regulatory wall:
- Anti–money laundering rules
- Sanctions obligations
- Tax and accounting requirements
- Recordkeeping rules for financial institutions
Those regimes generally require keeping KYC and transaction records for around five years, sometimes more. The variation is in how clearly exchanges admit that.
Most transparent on retention: Kraken
Kraken’s privacy materials state, in substance:
- Certain records related to client due diligence and transactions must be retained for a period such as five years after the business relationship ends.
- Kraken may retain data longer where it cannot delete the data for legal, regulatory, or technical reasons.
That’s close to what everyone is doing; Kraken is just unusually candid about it.
Very explicit for biometrics: Binance.US
Binance.US:
- Ties retention of biometric data directly to the retention periods required by financial laws and regulations.
- States that other personal data is retained as long as necessary for AML, tax, accounting, security, and dispute-related purposes.
In plain English: your face scan is a long-term record, not a temporary step.
GLBA and “as long as necessary”: Coinbase, Crypto.com, Gemini, OKX
The others phrase it differently, but land in the same place.
Coinbase
- In its financial privacy materials, treats ongoing retention and sharing of personal data as necessary for “everyday business purposes,” which include processing transactions, maintaining accounts, and complying with laws.
- That language carries on even after you stop being a customer.
Crypto.com
- Explains that certain financial information is subject to financial-privacy law and is not covered by state deletion rights.
- Even if you send a deletion request, the GLBA/AML layer remains.
Gemini and OKX
- Use familiar formulations like “as long as reasonably necessary to provide services and comply with legal obligations,” without naming a specific number of years.
- In practice, AML and tax rules set that floor.
Answer to Question 2 – Who keeps it the longest?
Substantively, this is a draw: all six are bound by financial and AML laws that push core record retention into the five-years-plus range.
Kraken and Binance.US are simply the most transparent about multi-year retention (especially for KYC and biometrics).
Coinbase, Crypto.com, Gemini, and OKX use softer language, but the legal effect is very similar.
📤 Who shares it the widest?
“Sharing” comes in two very different flavors:
- Commercial sharing – ad-tech, analytics, bots, AI vendors, marketing partners.
- Regulatory/financial sharing – affiliates, banking partners, regulators, law enforcement.
Everyone does the second. The interesting comparison is in the first.
Widest commercial sharing: Gemini, Crypto.com, Coinbase, Binance.US
These four are quite open that they feed data into the broader ad/analytics ecosystem and, in some cases, into AI systems operated by third parties.
Gemini
- State-law materials say that it sells or shares identifiers, commercial information, and internet/electronic activity with:
- Data analytics providers
- Ad-tech vendors
- Ad networks
- Social media platforms
- Provides:
- “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” mechanisms
- Recognition of Global Privacy Control signals
- Admits that bots may be powered by third-party vendors and trained on user inputs via AI, which is another vector of sharing.
Crypto.com
- States that authorised partners may collect personal data when you use Crypto.com services and may use it for their own purposes, not just on Crypto.com’s instructions.
- Acknowledges that these uses can qualify as a “sale” or “sharing” under state law and provides a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” path to opt out.
Coinbase
- US privacy materials acknowledge “selling or sharing” categories like identifiers and online activity with analytics and advertising partners under state privacy definitions.
- Offers an opt-out of sale/sharing and recognises Global Privacy Control for the targeted-advertising piece.
Binance.US
- Explains that certain third-party advertising cookies and trackers may be considered a “sale” or “share” for targeted advertising purposes.
- Provides cookie settings and a privacy portal to manage some of that sharing.
All four also have the standard financial-sharing matrix underneath: affiliates, service providers, card processors, correspondent banks, fraud-prevention partners, and so on.
Relatively narrower commercial sharing: Kraken and OKX
Kraken
- Emphasises that it does not “sell” personal data in the ordinary sense.
- However, it does:
- Share identifiers and usage data with service providers
- Use third-party tools for performance and, on some properties, for marketing or cross-context behavioural advertising
- Offer a “Your Privacy Choices” path to opt out of some tracking and advertising.
OKX
- Operates on a GDPR-style model:
- Uses “legitimate interests” as a basis for direct marketing and analytics
- Relies on service providers for processing and fraud/security
- Does not lean heavily into the US “sale/share” terminology in its global text, even though the underlying practices (analytics, email marketing) are comparable.
They still share data widely with vendors and service providers, but they are somewhat less tied into state privacy law’s “sale/share” vocabulary and ad-tech framing than the first group.
Regulators, banks, and law enforcement: everyone is “wide”
On regulatory sharing, there is no meaningful difference among any of the six:
- All reserve the right, and in many cases the obligation, to share personal data with:
- Regulators and financial supervisors
- Tax agencies
- Law enforcement and courts
- Sanctions and financial-intelligence authorities
- Many explicitly mention cross-border transfers and note that foreign courts and security agencies may access data under their own legal systems.
If your concern is “could a government or court get to my exchange data,” the answer is “yes” across the board.
Answer to Question 3 – Who shares it the widest?
On the commercial/ad-tech/AI side, the widest sharers are Gemini, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Binance.US – each explicitly acknowledges sale/share of identifiers and usage data for analytics and ads and leans into third-party partners.
Kraken and OKX have a somewhat narrower profile on ad-tech, though they still use service providers and analytics.
On the regulator/law-enforcement side, all six are effectively equivalent: every one of them is built to cooperate extensively with authorities.
🧾 Final scorecard: straight answers for readers
To close the loop and give the kind of summary people expect from a “scorecard” article:
Who collects the most?
- Most expansive:
- Binance.US
- Crypto.com
They are the most explicit about biometrics plus everything else.
- Close runners-up:
- Coinbase
- Gemini
Very broad data scope, with Gemini adding AI-trained chats on top.
- Relatively leaner (but still heavy):
- Kraken
- OKX
Who keeps it the longest?
- In practice, all six keep core KYC and transaction data for at least five years, often more, because of AML, sanctions, tax and financial rules.
- Kraken and Binance.US are simply the most transparent about that retention.
- Coinbase, Crypto.com, Gemini and OKX land in the same place using softer “as long as necessary” and GLBA language.
Who shares it the widest?
- Commercial/ad-tech/AI sharing:
- Widest: Gemini, Crypto.com, Coinbase, Binance.US
- Somewhat narrower: Kraken, OKX
- Regulators/law enforcement:
- All six share very widely and are structurally built to cooperate.