Sam Altman's Worldcoin Faces Global Government Scrutiny Over Data Privacy Concerns

California: Multiple governments worldwide are battling with Sam Altman, either banning his Worldcoin project's operations or investigating its data processing.

Multiple governments around the world are taking issue with Sam Altman’s Worldcoin project, either banning its operations or launching investigations into its data processing.

Worldcoin was conceived when in 2019, Altman envisioned technology to distribute universal basic income to everyone on Earth whose livelihoods got disrupted by AI.

Worldcoin has now scanned and verified over six million people across nearly 40 countries. In return, users get immutable codes in an online “World ID” passport, as well as a payout in Worldcoin’s WLD cryptocurrency.

Cayman Islands-registered Worldcoin has already been raided in Hong Kong, blocked in Spain, fined in Argentina and criminally investigated in Kenya. A ruling is also pending on whether it can continue to operate in the European Union (EU).

Government concerns include how Worldcoin handles user data, trains its algorithms, and avoids scanning children.

But Worldcoin says its technology is fully private, with orbs deleting all images after verification, and that iris codes contain no personal information, unless users opt in to let Worldcoin train its algorithms with their scans. Anonymized codes and images are then stored on encrypted servers.

In Kenya, where it got half a million sign-ups within three months of launching, police launched a criminal investigation into the collection of biometric data.

Kenya’s parliament also held a public inquiry, with Altman and co-founder Alex Blania testifying. They also met Kenya’s president, William Ruto, last year in California.

Hong Kong banned Worldcoin after discovering that it was retaining iris images for up to a decade.

In Argentina, authorities launched the investigation over abusive user terms.

Spain accused Worldcoin of scanning children on a large scale.

In Bavaria, Worldcoin has a data-processing subsidiary, but the EU has launched an inquiry into Worldcoin.

It uses a basketball-sized chrome device called the Orb to scan irises, which it says are relatively unchanging and can distinguish between different humans better than fingerprints or faces.

The total WLD is roughly worth around $15 billion and Worldcoin still controls 97% of WLD, meaning the price is set by a small pool of currency in circulation.

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