Hong Kong Worldcoin Offices Visited Amid Privacy Investigation

The offices of the Worldcoin project, a biometric scanning and wallet initiative, person been visited by authorities successful Hong Kong amidst a wide privateness investigation. The authorities, complying with a tribunal warrant, advised the wide assemblage to support their delicate information cautiously and debar casually providing their biometric accusation to 3rd parties.

Worldcoin Under Investigation by Hong Kong Authorities

Worldcoin is facing accrued scrutiny connected its operations successful Hong Kong. Local sources reported that connected January 31, privateness authorities visited six Worldcoin offices successful the city, located successful Yau Ma Tei, Kwun Tong, Wan Chai, Cyberport, Central, and Causeway Bay, to behaviour investigations connected the task operations.

The authorities, portion of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, had a tribunal warrant to participate these premises and prehend documents related to the usage of the information collected by Worldcoin. To person a bonus of 25 WLD, Worldcoin’s token, users person to scan their eyes utilizing an optical instrumentality called the Orb, which collects the information and proves the “personhood” of each verified user.

The postulation of delicate and idiosyncratic information prompted this investigation, arsenic the Office of the Privacy Commissioner believes it mightiness interruption immoderate provisions of the city’s privateness ordinance.

In its FAQ page, Worldcoin stresses that, by default, the Orb “promptly deletes iris images aft the instauration of the iris code,” which is simply a integer practice of the iris of each user. Nonetheless, users tin opt-in to store their biometric information successful Worldcoin’s distributed servers.

Chung Liling, Hong Kong’s privateness commissioner for idiosyncratic data, stated that the wide nationalist should beryllium much vigilant astir its biometric information and should besides debar giving it casually to 3rd parties.

This is not the archetypal federation wherever Worldcoin has faced absorption owed to its intrusive information postulation practices, arsenic it has besides been investigated successful Argentina, France, and Kenya, wherever authorities attempted to detain its representatives.

Worldcoin has implicit 3.2 cardinal signups, with implicit 180,000 accounts created successful the past 7 days.

What bash you deliberation astir Hong Kong’s probe of Worldcoin? Tell america successful the comments conception below.