Privacy concerns arose due to the crypto project’s biometric scanning, particularly with the Orb optical device offering 25 Worldcoin for ocular scans.
Based on reports, the privacy aspects of the Worldcoin (WLD) cryptocurrency initiative are the subject of investigation.
A warrant has been obtained by the Hong Kong authorities, issued by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, to seize documents about the utilization of data gathered by Worldcoin.
A genuine control for the cryptographic endeavor involving biometric scanning. Privacy authorities visited the six Worldcoin offices located in Yau Ma Tei, Kwun Tong, Wan Chai, Cyberport, Central, and Causeway Bay in the city on Wednesday.
Chung Liling, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong, advised the public to exercise greater caution regarding the disclosure of their biometric information to third parties and to refrain from doing so carelessly.
The crypto project does not coincidentally award 25 WLD to users who perform an ocular scan using the Orb optical device. By aggregating the information, Orb presents the “personality” of every authenticated user.
The privacy authorities have identified this procedure as potentially violating specific provisions outlined in the privacy ordinance of the city.
The following are clarifications made by the cryptocurrency initiative while perusing the Worldcoin privacy FAQs page:
“Does Orb store biometric images? By default, Orb immediately deletes iris images after creating the iris code. Individuals have the option to back up their images when verifying their World ID. Iris images are shared with Worldcoin to train the project’s iris detection and segmentation models and similar algorithms.”
In practice, following the generation of the iris code, the Orb device expeditiously expunges the scanned iris images of the user by default.
Users may, however, elect to have their biometric information stored on servers distributed by Worldcoin.
The Worldcoin-signed technique appears to be disliked by countries other than Hong Kong. The crypto endeavor has been the subject of investigation in France, Kenya, and Argentina as well.
The cost of Worldcoin
The Worldcoin privacy investigation does not appear to influence the price of its WLD token.
WLD is currently valued at $2.33, representing a 4.4% increase in value over the past twenty-four hours. Furthermore, specifically on Tuesday, January 30th, WLD experienced a more significant price increase, which brought its value to $2.72.
However, by December 17, 2023, WLD had risen to $4.44 during the holiday season. This surge co-occurred with the introduction of World ID 2.0, a “human” digital passport designed to protect privacy and differentiate between human and automated users on the internet.
Since its inception, generic applications and services, including Shopify, Reddit, and Minecraft, have been integrated with World ID 2.0.
