Worldcoin Expansion Faces Regulatory Scrutiny

According to a Reuters report, Worldcoin plans to expand its operations to enable governments and businesses to utilize its iris-scanning and identity-verification technology to attract more users.

According to the report, Ricardo Macieira, the general manager for Europe at Tools For Humanity, the company behind the Worldcoin initiative, stated that the company’s mission is to “build the largest financial and identity community possible.”

“The idea is that as we build this infrastructure and that we allow other third parties to use the technology.”

Macieria added that it intends to open-source the technology that powers the iris-scanning devices so that the product can be utilized by a wider audience.

Recent reports have suggested that Worldcoin has struggled to acquire users since its introduction.

However, the co-founder of the project, Sam Altman, has refuted these allegations by posting videos of people waiting in line for iris scans on Twitter, now known as X.

“The idea is that anyone can in the future build their own orb and use it to benefit the community that it’s aiming for.”

Macieira stated that spheres will become even more community-oriented in the future.

He continued by stating that he does not believe Worldcoin will be the source of universal basic income but that the company would be “very happy” to provide the infrastructure for governments and other entities to generate it.

In addition, Macieira told Reuters that Worldcoin intends for businesses to pay to use its digital identity system if they wish to implement localized systems without collecting personal data.

Regulators around the globe have already scrutinized Worldcoin’s data collection techniques. France’s privacy commission has deemed them “questionable,” and German authorities have been investigating Worldcoin since 2022.

British regulators are also contemplating opening an investigation into the company.

However, Worldcoin’s website asserts that it is “completely private” and that users have the option of having their biometric data encrypted or deleted.

Kenya’s minister of internal security announced on August 2 that Worldcoin is no longer permitted to operate in the country.