Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has been ordered to cease operations in Hong Kong by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD), the region’s privacy watchdog. The regulator accused Worldcoin of violating privacy by unnecessarily and excessively collecting face and iris scans, following an in-depth investigation that uncovered significant privacy breaches.
During ten undercover visits to six Worldcoin locations in Hong Kong between December 2023 and January 2024, the PCPD discovered that the company had scanned the faces and irises of over 8,000 individuals. The agency found that Worldcoin had violated multiple rules regarding the purpose and method of data collection.
One of the PCPD’s main concerns was that Worldcoin’s privacy notice and biometric data consent form were not available in Chinese, and the company’s staff did not adequately explain the documents or ensure that participants understood them. This resulted in insufficient informed consent from users.
Worldcoin originally intended to retain the collected data for up to 10 years in order to train AI models for user verification. However, the PCPD deemed this retention period unjustified and excessive, stating that there were less invasive methods available for verifying participants’ identities.
Following the PCPD’s enforcement notice, Worldcoin has removed all banners and logos from its offices in Hong Kong. The project claims that the personal data collected is encrypted and secure. However, it has faced similar scrutiny in other countries, including Spain, Portugal, and Kenya, regarding its biometric data collection practices.
In an attempt to address these concerns, Worldcoin announced in March that it would cease collecting personal data and introduce a feature called “Personal Custody,” which allows users to store their data on their own devices. Despite these efforts, the project continues to face challenges in various jurisdictions.