Worldcoin has introduced an iris-scanning-based worldwide identification mechanism.

According to CMC, the token’s price has increased by 4.57% n the last 24 hours.

On Wednesday, the Kenyan Ministry of the Interior announced on its Facebook page that it had suspended activities of Worldcoin, while the country’s financial, security, and data protection services investigated the legality and data security of the project.

The Ministry stated:

“The Government is concerned by the ongoing activities of an organization calling itself ‘WORLD COIN’ which is involved in the registration of citizens through the collection of eyeball/iris data.” 

Rising Criticism Over Data Collection

To verify the authenticity of its users, Worldcoin has introduced an iris-scanning-based worldwide identification mechanism. According to the project, this is likely to be very important in a future where AI-powered bots take part in economic activity. However, the signup procedure and the gathering of biometric data in developing nations have been criticized and even accused of being exploitative.

As reported earlier, Worldcoin is under investigation by many European agencies, including the Bavarian data protection body. Kenya is the first country to entirely halt the company’s operations pending the outcome of an investigation by local authorities.

According to the ministry, this decision was made as a measure of preventative security. Until the appropriate authorities have evaluated the project and given their approval, it will remain on hold. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, also co-founded Worldcoin, which has come under heavy criticism from privacy advocates.

Since the introduction of the project last week, users who have had their irises scanned have been rewarded with WLD tokens. According to data from CMC, the token’s price has increased by 4.57%, to $2.41, in the last 24 hours.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ August 2, 2023 11:25 am