Hong Kong regulator launches investigation into Worldcoin’s activities

What’s new? Representatives of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data of Hong Kong visited six local offices of the Worldcoin project based on a court order. To become a member of Worldcoin, a person must undergo an identification procedure involving a retinal scan, after which he or she is assigned a “digital passport” World ID and given 25 native tokens WLD free of charge. The Hong Kong regulator saw serious risks to personal data privacy in the project and therefore began to investigate its activities.

Material by Hong Kong Economic Times

What else is known? The regulator said that the collection and processing of sensitive personal data by Worldcoin may violate existing legislation, and urged citizens to be careful with their biometric data.

As part of visits to Worldcoin’s offices in Yau Ma Tei, Kwun Tong, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, and Central districts, as well as Cyberport Business Park, officials demanded employees provide project-related documentation under the warrant.

Specifically, they are interested in the scope and purpose of the biometric data collection, the period for which it is stored, and the security measures to protect it. The officials also demanded documents containing information on how the data will be used and to whom it may be disclosed or shared.

Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Chung Lai-ling emphasized that biometric data, such as retina and its scan, are unique and immutable, and therefore can be regarded as sensitive personal data.

Their collection, processing, and storage in a special administrative region of the PRC can only be carried out in compliance with security measures and confidentiality regulations.

Earlier, the regulators of Great Britain, Germany, and France were also interested in the project’s activities. The Parliament of Kenya recommended suspending Worldcoin in the country.

Worldcoin stops offering the verification service in India, France, and Brazil

Earlier, the Kenyan authorities recommended suspending the project’s activities at the local level

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In January, Worldocin developers began opening up access to information about the hardware of the Orb devices used for scanning. They expect other firms to also produce their own Orb integrated with the World ID protocol, increasing the decentralization of the project.