Kenya’s High Court has ordered Worldcoin, a biometric cryptocurrency co-founded by Open AI’s Sam Altman, to erase all biometric data of over 300,00 Kenyans.
This is due to the Court’s findings suggesting Worldcoin’s data collection practices did not put into context Kenya’s Data Protection Act of 2019. In that regard, Worldcoin has been tasked to permanently delete the iris and facial data that belongs to over 300,00 Kenyans within seven days.
For the sake of accountability, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has been mandated to keep a close eye on the operation.
Worldcoin began its operations in 2022 in Kenya, 3 years after it was founded. It gained the interest of many Kenyan citizens because there was a financial factor. Citizens just needed to scan their irises with a device called the “Orb”, and afterwards they received a digital token.
While the law enforcement body might not necessarily be against the initiative, a valid concern around Worldcoin’s compliance status with the country’s data protection laws must be respected. Kenya’s government even suspended the activities of Worldcoin back in 2023, citing potential risks to national security and data integrity.
Not only in Kenya, Worldcoin has faced legal scrutiny in countries like France, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea and Indonesia in the past.
The issue came to light after a legal challenge by the Katiba Institute, a Kenyan civil society organisation. They argued that Worldcoin collected sensitive biometric data without conducting a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA).
As data increasingly becomes an imperative asset in the digital world, law enforcement agencies can only help by setting stringent measures around data protection and holding data processors accountable.
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