The companies contracted by controversial blockchain firm Worldcoin to undertake the iris scans and data collection from Kenyans may have harvested critical information from underage Kenyans.
This is according to the chief executive officer of one of the subsidiary companies contracted by Worldcoin – Sense Marketing, who said that the error may have occurred due to a lack of clear guidelines on Worldcoin registration guidelines.
Mr Kevin Olende, the CEO of Sense Marketing, made the revelations when he appeared before the Adhoc committee of Parliament set up to investigate the conduct of Worldcoin in the country.
The committee chaired by Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo had summoned the companies linked to Worldcoin to shed light on the roles they played in the controversial data harvesting from Kenyans.
Sense Marketing is one of the 20 subsidiary companies that were contacted by Worldcoin to undertake data collection and processing.
“You were scanning irises without any signed consensual agreements from the Kenyans who turned up for registration. How do you know if you were dealing with minors or not, now that you claim you were not collecting any other data?” asked Dagoretti South John Kiarie.
In his response, Olende acknowledged that there is a possibility that minors were also scanned by the orb as there were no signed contracts with the subjects.
He claimed that his engagement with Worldcoin started in October 2022, and continued operations despite there being directives from the Data Commissioner to cease and desist operations after concerns were raised.
The CEO however insisted that they were at no point told by Worldcoin that they would be collecting any data from anyone, beyond scanning irises.
“In law, ignorance is no defense, why did you agree to enter into an engagement with a company you know very well is not registered to operate in Kenya. Why did you continue working with Worldcoin, even after their registration was revoked and were told to cease and desist from activities?” asked nominated MP Irene Mayaka.
In his response Olende said that as per their agreement with Worldcoin, their role was to recruit a team of agents to recruit people to register with Worldcoin.
“We operated the orb that scanned the irises, purely to verify humanity. As per our understanding, the orb was not meant to store any data, therefore we were not collecting any data,” Olende said.
Members of the committee had also sought to know if Sense Marketing understood the existing laws before undertaking the assignment given to them by Worldcoin.
“Do you have an understanding of the Data Protection Act and its provisions? Did you observe any of the provisions in your handling of Kenyans? Did you establish if the orb is a telecommunication device, and did you confirm it had undergone all the safety checks before being put to use, and how did they get clearance to be used here?” asked Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma.
The CEO told the Committee that despite being a Communications and Marketing Company, Sense Marketing were only contracted by Worldcoin as orb operators and not their local representatives in the data harvesting project.
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