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German data regulator is probing crypto project Worldcoin, official says | Technology news
A German data watchdog has been investigating OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s Worldcoin project since late last year due to concerns over its large-scale processing of sensitive biometric data, the regulator’s president told Reuters.
Worldcoin, launched last week, requires users to provide iris scans in exchange for a digital ID and, in some countries, free cryptocurrency as part of plans to create a new “identity and financial network.”
The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision began investigating Worldcoin in November 2022 due to concerns that the project aimed to process “sensitive data on a large scale” using new technology, Michael Will told Reuters, president of the state regulator, in emailed comments on Friday.
Will said the Bavarian state regulator is the lead authority investigating Worldcoin under European Union data protection rules because Tools For Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, has a German branch there.
“These technologies are at first glance neither established nor well analyzed for the specific main purpose of processing in the field of financial information transfer,” Will said.
This poses a number of risks, including whether users have given explicit consent to the processing of their highly sensitive biometric data based on “sufficient and clear” information, Will said.
Worldcoin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its website describes its network as “privacy-protective” and says that personal data is stored in encrypted form.
The Worldcoin Foundation, a Cayman Islands-based entity, told Reuters by email last week that it complies with European Union rules and will continue to cooperate with government bodies’ requests for information about its privacy and practices of data protection.
Since the project’s launch, people’s faces have been scanned by a shiny spherical “sphere” at recording sites around the world, including France, Germany and Spain. Worldcoin says 2.1 million have signed up, most during a trial period over the past two years.
Privacy activists have long raised concerns about the large-scale collection and storage of biometric data, which could increase surveillance or target certain demographic groups.
Several European regulators see Worldcoin as a matter of interest and have requested information, Will added.
France’s privacy watchdog told Reuters on Friday that the legality of Worldcoin’s data collection “seems questionable.”
Britain’s data regulator also said it would investigate the project.
First upload on: 01-08-2023 at 09:20 IST