The Portugal-based data protection authority, the National Commission for the Protection of Data (CNPD), has recently set its regulatory sights on Sam Altman’s Worldcoin, a revolutionary iris scanning project. In a strict enforcement of bio-data guidelines, the CNPD issued a 90-day moratorium, curtailing Worldcoin’s ability to gather biometric data.
This move by the CNPD has thrown Worldcoin’s compliance practices into sharp relief. Much of the CNPD’s regulatory glare was directed at the Worldcoin Foundation, an institution with no members and its roots entrenched in the Cayman Islands. Its public-facing front bills it as the unique member and director of World Assets Ltd, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, with its main objective being issuing Worldcoin tokens to those who sign up for the project.
The protective measure was taken due to CNPD’s presumption of a looming “high risk” to the data protection rights of its citizens. The indiscriminate acquisition of minors’ data, insufficient informational deliverables to the target data segments, and the seeming impossibility for participants to delete their data or rescind their consent were among the significant reasons the CNPD gave for this step.
The regulatory body’s decision comes in the wake of over 300,000 Portuguese citizens having willingly given their biometric data to Worldcoin. The CNPD, consequently, was inundated with a flurry of complaints from the affected individuals.
Caught in this whirlwind, Jannick Preiwisch, the data protection officer at the Worldcoin Foundation, echoed the company’s compliance under prevailing laws regarding biometric data collection and transfer. Preiwisch stood firm on Worldcoin’s ground rules that prohibit underage participation and a strict vigilance to address such occurrences.
Notably, Worldcoin has currently shifted to ‘Personal Custody’, a move to empower users with the authority over their data, wherein they can opt for data removal and have a say in its future use. This CNPD order to obstruct data collection is, for now, a temporary move, pending further examination and scrutiny of the lodged complaints as a part of an ongoing investigation.
Worldcoin has drawn the attention of several dataprotection authorities worldwide. In Spain, the local watchdog recently clamped a three-month prohibition on the company following a spate of privacy grievances, adding to Worldcoin’s previous suspension of activities in Kenya in August 2023.
Additionally, the Bavarian State Regulatory Authority, Southeastern Germany’s lead authority, has put Worldcoin under its microscope, observing it under stringent European Union data protection rules. Worldcoin’s German subsidiary is owned by Tools For Humanity, the driving force behind Worldcoin.
As the wider investigation into its practices proceeds, Worldcoin is at a crucial juncture. It currently faces a twofold challenge of reassuring regulators and rebuilding public trust while maintaining its ambitious vision of global recognition, with claimed sign-ups exceeding 4.5 million from 120 countries worldwide.
Despite the recent setbacks at the hands of various regulatory bodies, Worldcoin’s decentralized cryptocurrency has held noteworthy gains, exhibiting a growth of 12% over the past week. Worldcoin’s native token WLD, despite experiencing a free fall from its record high of $11.95 on March 10 to just $7.24, it has since rebounded and currently holds a healthy trading price of $9.01.
With its trading volume surging by 65.10% in the past 24 hours, equaling a trade amounting to $416,136,329, WLD has shown rather promising signs of renewed interest for investors.
In the times ahead, given the continued rally, the $9.5 mark is anticipated as the nearest resistance for the WLD token, followed by the $10.14 level. Conversely, if WLD experiences a downturn, the $8.36 mark will potentially act as the closest support. Sustained dips in price may move the support level to around the $8 mark, followed by a significant resistance at $7.93.
