Kenya Suspends WorldCoin as thousand’s Wait In Line For Free Money
Worldcoin has been told to halt adding new users after the Kenyan government issued an order due to data privacy concerns.
Sam Altman, a US software entrepreneur who developed Worldcoin, gives away free cryptocurrency tokens to everyone who consents to having their eyes scanned.
This week, tens of thousands of Kenyans have been waiting in line at registration centers to obtain the cash, which is valued roughly $49 (£39).
Kenya cautioned individuals against handing their personal information to private companies. The Communications Authority of Kenya expressed worry over the following in a statement:
- Storing biometric data
- In a way that offered payment in exchange for information and put so much information in the hands of a private company
The ministry of the interior has launched an investigation into Worldcoin and called on security services and data protection agencies to establish its authenticity and legality.
Mr Altman, who founded Open AI which built chat bot ChatGPT, says he hopes the initiative will help confirm if someone is a human or a robot. He also says this could lead to everyone being paid a universal basic income but it is not clear how.
Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) called for increased vigilance from the public when using Worldcoin saying the process requires “demonstration of proper safeguards under the Data Protection Act 2019”.
The Kenyan Capital Markets Authority (CMA) stated it was concerned about the ongoing registration and notified Kenyans that Worldcoin was not regulated in Kenya. Under Kenyan law, individuals have a right to not have any personal information unnecessarily required or unnecessarily revealed.
Digital rights lawyer Mercy Mutemi told the BBC there were other, less intrusive ways to gain the information that Worldcoin is after. “If the goal is to prove people are human, they can just show up. You don’t need to go for the most invasive manner to prove people are human,” she said.
Worldcoin told BBC that it chose Kenya as the first African country to launch the platform because of the already booming tech space, and the more than four million Kenyans who are already trading in crypto.
