Spain bans Worldcoin project over concerns over sensitive data collection: details

Worldcoin’s short-lived popularity rally has stalled in several nations in recent months. Worldcoin’s collection of user data through eye scans has raised concerns among several governments around the world. This week, Spain became the latest nation to ban Sam Altman’s ambitious project from collecting the personal data and biometrics of Spanish citizens. What world leaders see as fraught with privacy concerns, Altman’s Worldcoin project aims to create unique personal identification now that bots and AI are on the rise.

The decision to restrict Worldcoin’s operations in Spain was finalized by AEPD, the country’s data protection regulator. In an official statement, the regulatory body warned Worldcoin not to collect any more data, nor to use the information already obtained.

“AEPD has received several complaints against this company alleging, among other aspects, insufficient information, collection of data from minors, or that withdrawal of consent is not allowed,” statement of AEPD said this week.

Based in San Francisco, USA, Worldcoin was officially launched in July last year. It aims to assign “global identifiers” to the world’s citizens as “international proof of identity”. With these identifiers, people will not have to share their personal data to interact with the web and websites. In August last year, representatives of the project set up stands in several parts of the world – collecting scans of people’s eyes using their own one-of-a-kind machine called Orbs.

As people lined up in front of Worldcoin booths in various parts of the world, including India, policymakers realized that this Worldcoin data collection process seemed problematic. Kenya was among the first nations to take a strict step towards controlling the Worldcoin craze – putting it on hold indefinitely for the time being.

“The processing of biometric data, considered in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as having special protection, entails high risks for people’s rights, given their sensitive nature,” the Spanish regulator noted.

This operational boost for Worldcoin comes just a week after the project claimed the World App surpassed one million daily users for the first time in February.

At the time, WLD, the native token of the Worldcoin project, registered a jump of 140 percent in a seven-day period. WLD was trading at $7.58 (approx. Rs. 628) on February 19. The token is currently trading at $7.23 (roughly Rs. 597), according to CoinMarketCap.