Kenyan government suspends Worldcoin-related activities

Odaily News: The Kenyan Ministry of Interior announced on Wednesday through its Facebook page that it has temporarily suspended the operations of Worldcoin.

The statement reads, "The government is concerned about the activities of an organization calling itself 'WORLD COIN' that is collecting iris data for citizen registration." Relevant financial, security, and data protection agencies have initiated investigations to determine the legality and data protection of this project.

Worldcoin is attempting to create a global identification mechanism based on iris scans to prove the uniqueness of individuals acting as agents. The project claims that this could be crucial in a world where AI agents participate in the economy. However, the collection of biometric data and the registration process in developing countries have received criticism, including allegations of exploitation. Since the launch of the project last week, users who underwent iris scans have received WLD.

According to a statement sent to CoinDesk, some European regulatory agencies have also begun investigating Worldcoin, including the Bavarian Data Protection Authority responsible for overseeing the company.

As of the time of writing, Worldcoin has not responded to media requests for comments. (CoinDesk)