• Kenyan police have raided the Worldcoin Warehouse in Nairobi, looking for data.
• The country’s Interior Ministry has suspended the project and ordered it to stop collecting data in Kenya.
• Privacy experts are concerned that sensitive data scanned from a person’s iris could put privacy at risk.
Kenyan Police Raid Worldcoin Warehouse
Keenan police have reportedly raided the warehouse of Worldcoin, an eyeball-scanning crypto project launched by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, in Nairobi, searching for data stored by the project. The officers were backed by multi-agency officials and they left with machines believed to store data collected by the firm.
Interior Ministry Suspends Project
The Interior Ministry of Kenya has suspended the activities of Worldcoin and ordered it to stop collecting data while investigations into its authenticity are still ongoing. Immaculate Kassait, Kenya’s Data Commissioner commented that Tools for Humanity, Worldcoin’s parent company failed to disclose its true intentions during registration. Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki also addressed parliament on Thursday about precautionary steps taken by the government on already mined data.
Worldcoin Claims To Safeguard Privacy
Worldcoin claims that it has measures in place to safeguard user privacy and no personal data is being stored. Its co-founder and CEO Alex Blania said that they aim to open source their hardware designs and protocol so anyone can verify their dedication to user privacy and security.
Capital Markets Authority Warning Citizens
However, Capital Markets Authority (CMA) issued a warning over Worldcoin’s registration in Kenya since it was not regulated locally – potentially putting users at risk of privacy invasions if sensitive information was misused or mishandled.
Conclusion
In conclusion, due to concerns over misuse or mishandling of sensitive information collected through iris scanning technology, Kenyan authorities have started investigating Worldcoins activities and raided its warehouse seeking documents and machines for analysis before suspending its operations until further notice from regulatory bodies as well as from their own investigations into potential privacy risks posed by this technology.