Hong Kong's Privacy Commissioner has ordered the Worldcoin Foundation to halt all operations involving the collection of iris and facial images, citing violations of the Privacy Ordinance. The investigation, which began in January 2024, found that Worldcoin's identity verification project posed serious risks to citizens' personal data privacy. The Privacy Commissioner deemed the collection of face and iris images unnecessary and unlawful, and criticized Worldcoin's lack of transparency and insufficient information. The investigation also revealed that Worldcoin's retention of sensitive biometric data for up to 10 years was unjustified. Worldcoin has confirmed that 8,302 individuals had their faces and irises scanned during its operation in Hong Kong.