Worldcoin iris biometrics

Worldcoin is a self-described 'digital identity and financial network' that uses a 'chrome orb' to scan the irises and faces of people agreeing to sign up for a share of its new WLD currency. 

Worldcoin was started in 2019 by Sam Altman and Alex Blania under the auspices of technology company Tools for Humanity (TFH). TFH claims it was established to 'accelerate the transition towards a more just economic system.'

The WLD currency started trading on July 24, 2023 under the auspices of the Worldcoin Foundation, a Cayman Islands 'exempted limited guarantee foundation company'. The currency trades in multiple jurisdictions - except the US, in which the laws are 'unclear', according to Worldcoin. 

Risks and harms 🛑

Worldcoin's governance, field-testing and other operational activities have caused controversy and resulted in regulatory investigations, bans and market withdrawls in several countries across the world.

Field-testing methods

• Leaked internal documents revealed that people signing up for Worldcoin iris scans were complaining about unclear, misleading, and unethical marketing practices, that the organisation was collecting more personal data than it acknowledged, failing to obtain meaningful informed consent, and had not declared that it was using user data to train its artificial intelligence models.

Regulatory investigations

• Hong Kong's privacy watchdog launched an investigation into Worldcoin due to 'serious risks to personal data privacy'.

• South Korea's PIPC privacy regulator launched an investigation into Worldcoin following complaints about its data collection and storage activities.

• The Argentine Agency for Access to Public Information (AAIP) initiated an investigation into Worldcoin’s data collection practices.

• Privacy regulators in Bavaria and the UK have also said they are investigating Worldcoin.

Regulatory suspensions

• Portugal's data regulator banned Worldcoin for ninety days, citing a high risk to citizens’ data protection rights.

• Worldcoin was suspended in Spain for failing to provide people with sufficient information about the project, collecting data of minors, and the inability to people to withdraw their consent to process their data.

• Kenya suspended Worldcoin, leading to a Kenyan parliamentary committee arguing the company and its partners had violated Kenyan law and be shut down until the country established proper regulations over virtual assets.

Market withdrawals

• Tools for Humanity confirmed it was withdrawing its orb iris scanning verification services in India, Brazil, and France, resulting in its WLD currency falling 22 percent.