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Tag: Worldcoin

  • Worldcoin resumes operations in Kenya after police clearance

    Worldcoin resumes operations in Kenya after police clearance

    Worldcoin is set to resume its activities in Kenya after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) concluded an inquiry into allegations of unauthorised data collection and exportation. 

    The DCI’s letter to Worldcoin’s legal team confirmed the end of the investigation and advised the company to comply with local regulations, including formal business registration and securing necessary permits.

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    DCI’s Recommendations to Worldcoin

    The DCI emphasised the need for Worldcoin to conduct thorough background checks on its vendors to ensure responsible operations. The investigation was carried out swiftly and impartially, and it focused on accusations from 2022 and 2023 regarding the illegal collection and distribution of sensitive personal data in Kenya.

    Worldcoin, led by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, captures biometric data, specifically images of individuals’ irises. In exchange for their participation, Kenyans were offered a monetary reward of Sh7,000 (approximately $52.83) and free WorldCoin tokens.

    Worldcoin’s Response

    Thomas Scott, Chief Legal Officer of Tools for Humanity, Worldcoin’s parent company, welcomed the resolution of the investigation. He stated, “This marks not the end but the beginning of a new chapter.” Scott expressed the company’s commitment to collaborating with the Kenyan government and anticipated resuming World ID registration nationwide soon.

    Worldcoin faced significant scrutiny in August 2023 when the Kenyan Ministry of Interior and National Administration suspended its operations to assess potential public safety risks. Concurrently, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) launched legal action to prevent Worldcoin from processing or exporting data from Kenyan citizens. This led to a police raid on a Worldcoin warehouse in Nairobi, confiscating equipment and documents.

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    International Diplomacy and Local Governance

    Despite diplomatic pressure from the United States in March 2024, advocating for Worldcoin’s operations, the Kenyan government, represented by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, maintained its suspension. The government reaffirmed its commitment to protecting citizens’ interests and safety, underscoring the importance of stringent data protection measures.

    Worldcoin aims to refocus on fostering global economic participation, especially in Kenya. Thomas Scott emphasised the company’s dedication to creating opportunities for Kenyans and others worldwide to engage with the international economy.

    With the investigation concluded, Worldcoin is poised to advance its objectives while ensuring compliance with local regulations and maintaining a collaborative relationship with the Kenyan government.

  • Kenyan parliament creates 15-man Worldcoin committee

    Kenyan parliament creates 15-man Worldcoin committee

    Kenya has been at the center of a debate about the newly launched Worldcoin project, and this week brings another update.

    A story from the local newspaper The Star says that the country’s leaders have put together a 15-person parliamentary committee to look into the controversial asset.

    Recall that Worldcoin’s launch has been marred with controversy, and it currently faces investigations in about five major countries. Also, we reported less than two weeks ago that police in the East African country raided the company’s warehouse in the country’s capital, Nairobi.

    Read also: Worldcoin attracts concerns of privacy regulators over biometric data 

    The committee on Worldcoin in Kenya’s parliament

    The Kenyan government reportedly established a 15-person committee under the leadership of Gabriel Tongoyo, a member of parliament for Narok West, to investigate Worldcoin.

    Members of the group came from the Tourism and Wildlife, Communication and Innovation, Administration, and Internal Security committees. The committee has 42 days to look into the project and give the House committee its report.

    Kithure Kindiki, the Interior Cabinet Secretary, told the House Committee that the government is worried about Worldcoin’s activities of registering citizens and collecting iris data, which he said all pose major security risks.

    This parliamentary investigation into the crypto project comes almost three weeks after the country shut down Worldcoin because it didn’t stop reading users’ iris as the government told it to.

    The various regulatory bodies in Kenya have completely rejected the Worldcoin project aside from the parliamentary committee. Two weeks ago, Kenyan police raided a building in Nairobi that belongs to Worldcoin.

    According to reports, the Kenyan police carried out a search warrant and took Worldcoin’s papers and machines from a warehouse in Nairobi, the capital of the East African country.

    Worldcoin overview

    Worldcoin is a digital ID-focused cryptocurrency project that lets people scan their iris to get their own currency, $WLD. During the project’s test phase, it was said that nearly 2 million people joined.

    San Francisco and Berlin-based Tools for Humanity developed it. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, Max Novendstern, and Alex Blania founded it in 2019 with the assistance of VC Andreessen Horowitz.

    Worldcoin, however, has had a challenging three weeks as a result of ongoing investigations in important nations like the United Kingdom, Argentina, Germany, and Kenya.

    Worldcoin wants to stop bots and fake online IDs made possible by artificial intelligence by creating a reliable way to verify people online called World ID. Worldcoin tries to get people to join its network by having their irises read with its orb-shaped iris scanner. This is similar to how UBI distributes its cryptocurrency.

  • Worldcoin attracts concerns of privacy regulators over biometric data 

    Worldcoin attracts concerns of privacy regulators over biometric data 

    Concerns regarding the security of Worldcoin’s biometric data gathering have prompted privacy regulators to look into the ID firm.

    Worldcoin is attracting the attention of privacy regulators all around the world weeks after its global launch, with Kenya’s government even going so far as to shut down the service permanently.

    The Silicon Valley-backed worldwide ID business is currently defending itself in inquiries into whether the biometric data it is gathering is indeed safe.

    Here is what you should know about Worldcoin and the issues it is causing.

    Read also: Altman, others launch Worldcoin Crypto project

    Peculiarities of Worldcoin

    Sam Altman, the CEO of the business famed for its artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT and for which he is best known, is the creator of Worldcoin.

    Giving individuals a form of identity that can never be stolen or copied is the aim of Worldcoin and the business that supports it, Tools for Humanity. A person’s eyeballs are scanned by “orbs,” a gadget that takes a photo of their iris, the coloured portion of the eye, to establish a “World ID” for Worldcoin.

    Online services, where users frequently need to remember several passwords and usernames for various websites they have registered for, are one potential use for such an ID.

    However, such websites’ security might have issues, and there have been many security lapses when usernames and passwords have been taken. A user might simply join up using their World ID rather than antiquated technologies like passwords.

    Worldcoin’s affiliation with crypto

    Although Worldcoin is primarily an identity initiative, it uses cryptocurrencies to entice users to sign up. The price of a Worldcoin token is now at $1.90, however speculation has more of an impact on the token’s worth than the fact that it can currently be used as money.

    Early adopters of Worldcoin were given a quantity of cryptocurrency valued between $50 and $60 as part of the promotion when it first launched in July. The majority of the nations where Worldcoin first debuted don’t utilise or accept cryptocurrency broadly.

    Furthermore, in underdeveloped nations where individuals are being urged to join up, like as Kenya, where the average monthly salary is around $170, $50 is a significant sum of money.

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    Why the Spotlight is on Worldcoin

    At a registration centre in Nairobi last week, tens of thousands of Kenyans queued up to have their irises scanned by Worldcoin in return for 25 coins worth approximately $50. A separate queue for women who waited with their toddlers strapped to their backs was part of the predominantly youthful audience.

    Some of the people waiting in queue informed the local media that they had come a long way because friends had told them “free money” was being given out. They admitted they had no idea why their irises needed to be scanned or what would be done with the data, but they just cared about getting paid.

    University graduates were among those who waited for hours, making reference to Kenya’s high unemployment rate and the nation’s widespread resentment of the country’s growing cost of living.

    Since then, the Kenyan government has halted new Worldcoin registrations while it looks into whether users’ personal data is being secured appropriately.

    According to last week’s statement from Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, “investigations of the safety and protection of the data being harvested and how the harvesters intend to use the data” have begun.

    The privacy concerns 

    By snapping pictures of a person’s iris, Worldcoin’s orbs gather biometric information. Privacy experts worry that Worldcoin may use the data for other purposes, such as personalised marketing, despite the company’s claim that it is intended to generate a distinctive, secure form of identity.

  • Kenya police raids Worldcoin warehouse, confiscates equipments

    Kenya police raids Worldcoin warehouse, confiscates equipments

    During the course of an ongoing investigation into its business activities and data gathering procedures, Kenyan law enforcement officials conducted a search warrant at a warehouse in Nairobi that belonged to Worldcoin and seized some equipment.

    Kenyan law enforcement agents entered a warehouse on Mombasa Road in Nairobi and seized several machines that they believed had data obtained by Worldcoin. The warehouse was located in Nairobi. According to a media outlet, the group drove this gear to the offices of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations so that it could be examined in further detail there.

    This comes after the Kenyan government placed a halt on Worldcoin’s business operations and launched an investigation into the company. In exchange for 25 World tokens, the cryptocurrency company Worldcoin had been scanning the irises of Kenyan residents. However, after hearing concerns voiced by privacy experts that sensitive data obtained by scanning a person’s iris would fall into the wrong hands, the Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki decided to put a halt to the activities of the company. Additionally, as a result of this, the government began to scrutinise the corporation even more.

    Read also: OpenAI plans premium, paid version of ChatGPT for businesses

    More details

    The Worldcoin (WLD) token got its name from the Worldcoin project, which inspired its development. Iris scans will be used to authenticate the identities of users who use financial services as part of this initiative, which will focus on the development of an ecosystem for World ID. By utilising World ID, users of these services are guaranteed to be real people and not just some kind of automated programme.  

    The initiative to create Worldcoin was taken on by a group that goes by the name “Tools for Humanity.” Sam Altman, who is well known as the founder of Open AI, was a co-founder of this organisation. Notably, the initiative has been successful in luring investments from well-known venture capital firms, one of which being the cryptocurrency part of Andreessen Horowitz known as a16z.

    Altman, the founder of Open AI, the company that produced the chat bot ChatGPT, says he believes the programme will assist in determining whether or not someone is a human or a robot.  According to Worldcoin, the company decided to launch the platform in Kenya as the first African country because the country’s technology sector is already thriving and more than four million Kenyans are currently trading in cryptocurrencies.

    According to the article, Immaculate Kassait, the Data Commissioner of the Data protection office, which had previously registered Worldcoin’s parent firm (Tools for Humanity) as a data processor, stated that Tools for Humanity neglected to disclose its genuine goals during registration. This information was provided by the Data protection office.

    Altman, others launch Worldcoin Crypto project

    About Worldcoin

    The San Francisco and Berlin offices of Tools for Humanity have collaborated on the development of a biometric cryptocurrency project called Worldcoin. It was established in 2019 by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, along with Max Novendstern and Alex Blania. Andreessen Horowitz is one of the company’s investors.

    Worldcoin’s goal is to combat bots and phoney virtual identities made possible by artificial intelligence by developing a trustworthy method for authenticating humans online. This method will be referred to as World ID. Using a distribution system for its cryptocurrency that is comparable to that of UBI, Worldcoin tries to incentivise people to join its network by having them have their iris scanned using Worldcoin’s orb-shaped iris scanner. This is done so that Worldcoin can verify that the user is who they say they are.