The Kenyan government has suspended Worldcoin operations over data privacy concerns, as European data protection offices initiate separate investigations into the identity crypto protocol co-founded by OpenAI's Sam Altman.
According to CoinDesk, Kenya's Ministry of the Interior announced the suspension of Worldcoin operations in a Facebook statement on Wednesday, citing concerns about citizen registration through the collection of iris data. The ministry, led by Minister Kithure Kindiki, stated that financial, security, and data protection services have initiated investigations to determine the legitimacy and data protection compliance of the project.
Worldcoin is working to create a global identification mechanism using iris scans to verify unique human agents in an economy increasingly influenced by artificially intelligent agents. However, the project has faced criticism regarding its biometric data collection and signup process in developing countries, with some accusing it of exploitation.
Since its launch last week, users who have undergone iris scans have received WLD tokens, which have seen a 1.9% rise to $2.38 on cryptocurrency exchanges in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Several European regulators, including the Bavarian data protection office that supervises Worldcoin, have also begun investigations, as reported in a statement sent to CoinDesk. At the time of publication, Worldcoin had not responded to CoinDesk's request for comment.