Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency and digital identity project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has secured a major win in Kenya after receiving a suspension order in 2023.
According to an official statement from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) of the National Police Service, Kenyan police have dropped an investigation into Worldcoin.
The statement, dated June 14, 2024, addressed an update request from Worldcoin lawyers regarding the status of the investigation filed in May 2024. According to the DCI, Kenya’s public prosecution unit concurred and ordered the Worldcoin case to be closed without further police action.
“The DCI expeditiously and objectively investigated an array of allegations into the activities of Worldcoin in Kenya in 2022/3 and touching on alleged unlawful collection and transfer of personal sensitive data,” the authority wrote.
Following the end of investigation, the Kenyan police recommended Worldcoin to ensure business registration in the country, proper licensing with coordination by the office of the Data Protection Commission and the Communication Authority of Kenya. Additionally, the authority advised to ensure intensive vetting and legal contracting of all third party vendors within Kenya.
Tools for Humanity hopes to bring Worldcoin back to Kenya
“We are grateful for the DCI’s fair investigation and for the Director of Public Prosecutions’ determination to close the matter,” said Thomas Scott, chief legal officer at Worldcoin developer Tools for Humanity.
In a statement to Cointelegraph, Scott expressed optimism about the future operations of Worldcoin in Kenya, stating:
“This welcome result is, however, not an end but a beginning. We will continue working with the government of Kenya and others and we hope to resume World ID registration across the country soon.”
The Worldcoin project was officially launched in July 2023, following three years of development. Worldcoin’s mission builds on providing tools to differentiate humans from artificial intelligence by scanning an individual’s IRIS, which stands for Intelligent Retrieval Information System. After the scan is completed, Worldcoin issues a World ID, allowing individuals to prove they are real human beings online.
Worldcoin’s unique digital ID offering triggered concerns from global regulators over the privacy and protection of users’ data.
Related: Ex-OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever launches SSI to focus on AI safety
A few weeks after its launch, Worldcoin was banned in Kenya, as the local government halted all local activity associated with the platform, including biometric identification. Worldcoin subsequently said it was working with the Kenyan government to resume operations in 2024.
Worldcoin faced issues worldwide amid privacy fears
Kenya isn’t the only jurisdiction that has had issues with Worldcoin so far. A number of other countries — including India, South Korea, Germany and Brazil — were also investigating the company’s data collection practices. In May 2024, Worldcoin was ordered to stop operations in Hong Kong over privacy violations.
Despite a rough start in some countries, the Worldcoin network has grown notably since its launch. As of April 2024, Worldcoin’s World App had 10 million total registered users, an average of 2 million daily users and more than 5 million monthly active users.
For additional information, stay tuned for an upcoming episode of the Decentralize with Cointelegraph podcast in which we sat down with Tools for Humanity, a key contributor to Worldcoin, to better understand the project and its mission.
Magazine: Polkadot’s Indy 500 driver Conor Daly: ‘My dad holds DOT, how mad is that?’