Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has announced the immediate suspension of all World Coin activities in the country. In a statement shared on Wednesday, August 2, the Ministry of Interior termed the registration activity carried out by World Coin as a ‘controversial registration of citizens through the collection of eyeball/iris data’, raising significant privacy and security concerns.
The suspension comes as relevant security, financial services, and data protection agencies launch inquiries and investigations to determine the authenticity and legality of World Coin’s activities. Additionally, the government will move to secure citizen data collected and verify how the organisation intends to utilise this sensitive information.
“We must ensure that the data collected by World Coin and any similar entities is handled securely and does not pose any risks to the general public,” the CS said.
During the suspension period, all World Coin activities and other entities engaged in similar practices within Kenya will be halted until relevant public agencies certify the absence of any potential risks to the citizens.
This decision reflects the government’s commitment to safeguarding the privacy and security of its people. The outcome of the inquiries and the subsequent actions will likely have significant implications for data privacy and financial security in Kenya.
Worldcoin, a pioneering cryptocurrency and digital identification platform, boasts a user-friendly solution for global identity verification, ensuring a clear distinction between genuine humans and automated entities such as bots and AI algorithms.
The system’s functioning revolves around three interconnected components, each essential for seamless operation. The cornerstone is the World ID, a key feature empowering users to authenticate their identity online. Interested individuals can effortlessly acquire their World ID through a cutting-edge eye-scanning device named the Orb.
The Orb captures a unique image of the user’s iris, akin to individual fingerprints, and generates a one-of-a-kind identification code, known as an IrisCode. This code serves as a safeguard, preventing multiple World IDs from being issued to a single individual.
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