Odaily Planet Daily News Kenya’s Ministry of Interior issued a statement on its Facebook page on Wednesday that the ministry suspended Worldcoin’s operations.
"The government is concerned about the ongoing activities of an organization calling itself 'WORLD COIN', which collects eyeball/iris data for citizen registration," the statement said. The relevant financial, security and data protection services have launched investigations, To determine the legality and data protection of the project.
Worldcoin is trying to create a global identification mechanism based on iris scans that can be used to prove that an agent is human and unique. This could be crucial in a world where artificial intelligence agents participate in the economy, the project says. But the collection of biometric data and the registration process in developing countries has drawn criticism, including allegations of exploitation. Since the program launched last week, users who have had iris scans have received WLDs.
Several European regulators have also opened investigations into Worldcoin, including the Bavarian Data Protection Office, which oversees the company, according to a statement sent to CoinDesk.
As of press time, Worldcoin had not responded to media requests for comment. (CoinDesk)