Sam Altman’s crypto-related initiative Worldcoin has reportedly been told by authorities in Spain to stop collecting and using consumers’ personal data.
Spain‘s data protection regulator, AEPD, has reportedly banned Worldcoin for as many as three months in a key decision that the organization states is “circumventing EU law”.
Introduced this past year, Worldcoin distributes crypto tokens to consumemrs simply for “being a unique individual.”
In order to prove their uniqueness and obtain the digital token, people have to get their eyeballs scanned by a piece of hardware referred to as “The Orb.”
AEPD states that it has received various complaints regarding the initiative, including that inadequate information is offered to users, that data from minors is being collected, and that consent may not be withdrawn.
The regulatory authority states that the processing of biometric data, which has key protections under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), entails “high risks to the rights of individuals.”
That’s why the agency claims it took urgent measures “to avoid potentially irreparable damage.”
Worldcoin data protection officer Jannick Preiwisch remarked:
“Our efforts to engage with the AEPD and provide them with an accurate view of Worldcoin and World ID have gone unanswered for months. We are grateful to now have the opportunity to help them better understand the important facts regarding this essential and lawful technology.”
Worldcoin has reportedly been liaising with the Bavarian state authority in Germany, which maintains jurisdiction and has been probing the controversial initiative.
World ID is described by its creators as a secure, permissionless identity protocol that reportedly “empowers 4,136,039 individuals to prove their humanness online while preserving their privacy.”
In the age of AI, this has never been more important, according to a blog post by Worldcoin.
The teams building Worldcoin are pleased to “have created one of the most private and secure technologies to ever exist at this scale, providing consumers a powerful tool to control how their data is used and shared.”
Worldcoin developers further claim that the initiative operates “lawfully in all of the locations in which it is available and under close supervision of the Bavarian data protection authority (BayLDA)—the regulatory body responsible for the oversight of its GDPR compliance in the whole EU (Lead Supervisory Authority).”
In accordance with the EU regulations pertaining to GDPR enforcement, Worldcoin contributors claim they have regularly “responded to BayLDA requests for months while operating lawfully in Spain and select other countries in Europe.”
This engagement continues to this day.
Jannick Preiwisch, Data Protection Officer at the Worldcoin Foundation, said:
“For several months, we have been engaged with BayLDA, who are the lead supervisory authority under the GDPR for Worldcoin Foundation and Tools for Humanity. It is unfortunate that the Spanish data protection authority (AEPD) is circumventing established procedures under GDPR with their actions today, which are limited to Spain and not the broader EU. It is also unfortunate that they are spreading inaccurate and misleading claims about our technology globally after our efforts to provide them with an accurate view of Worldcoin and World ID have gone unanswered for months. We are grateful to now have the opportunity to help the AEPD better understand the important facts regarding this essential and lawful technology.”
This circumvention of the accepted EU process and rules is “why project contributor Tools for Humanity announced that a suit had been filed against the order from the AEPD. All World ID verification services have been paused in Spain, however World App, the first wallet built for the Worldcoin project, remains available.”