Spain Bans Worldcoin For Three Months Due To Privacy Risk

Orb from Worldcoin is used to scan eye slices (photo: x @worldcoin)

JAKARTA - Spain has banned Sam Altman's Worldcoin for three months due to the privacy risks felt by the effort that scans the slices as exchange for digital ID and free cryptocurrencies.

Spanish data protection authorities AEPD said on Wednesday 6 March that it demanded Worldcoin immediately stop gathering personal information and stop using the data they have collected.

The AEPD move comes after several complaints about inadequate information, data collection from minors, or withdrawal of unlicensed approvals, the agency said.

Worldcoin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Spanish move. They previously said that biometric data was removed or stored in encrypted form, and that they were "committed" to cooperate with regulators.

Spanish regulators say that biometric data processing, which has special protection under the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), "proves a high risk to people's rights, given its sensitive nature".

They said in a statement that the temporarily banning of Worldcoin activity was justified "to avoid any possible irreparable damage", adding that not acting would eliminate the protection that should be given to people.

Nearby Portuguese data authorities said they were in contact with their German counterpart, Bavaria, while they analyzed whether Worldcoin data processing matched the GDPR and said they were talking to the companies involved in the project.

More than 4 million people in 120 countries have signed up to scan their slices through Worldcoin's "orb" devices, according to their website. However, the project has drawn criticism from privacy protesters from Argentina to Germany over the collection, storage, and use of personal data.

Altman says their ID will allow users, among others, to prove online that they are humans, especially in a future world dominated by artificial intelligence.

Worldcoin is backed by some of the most famous venture capital names, including a16z crypto and Bain Capital Crypto.