BayLDA officials fear Worldcoin is handling "sensitive data on a very large scale" with new technology
The Bavarian Data Protection Supervisory Authority (BayLDA) is investigating Sam Altman's Worldcoin project for collecting biometric data from the end of 2022, Reuters reports.
The regulator fears that the company is processing "sensitive data on a very large scale" using new technologies.
As the head of BayLDA Michael Will noted. That this situation could lead to significant risks. And in particular because of the fact that users consent to the processing of their highly sensitive biometric data on the basis of complete and clear information.
"These technologies <...> are not adequately designed or studied for the specific core purpose of processing data as part of the transmission of financial information," Will noted.
Also in late July, the French regulator questioned the legality of Worldcoin's biometrics collection. The project collected data in France. And because of this, the country's Data Privacy Protection Service initiated an investigation.
Also earlier, Britain's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it would check the Worldcoin project.
Worldcoin scans people's eyeballs using the Orb device. A reflective metal ball that records information about a person's iris in the form of a cryptographic code. Everyone who passes the scan will participate in periodic giveaways of WLD tokens. And the creators of the project position this as a form of universal basic income.
