Indonesia suspends World, Kenya says delete biometric data

Indonesia has suspended World (formerly “Worldcoin”) and World ID following public complaints.

The country’s Ministry of Communication and Digital has decided to pause the operation permit of World’s cryptocurrency Worldcoin and its World ID system after suspicions were raised.

“The suspension is our preventative measure to mitigate its risks to the public,” said Alexander Sabar, the ministry’s director general for digital supervision.

A probe discovered that the local operator for the World service, PT Terang Bulan Abadi, is not registered as an electronic system operator and doesn’t hold an operational permit (TDPSE) as required by law. Instead, the TDPSE for World is under the name of another company, PT Sandina Abadi Nusantara.

These local operators will have to answer to the ministry as clarification is sought over the situation. Indonesian law requires that every digital service provider must be legally registered and responsible for service operations to the public.

“Non-compliance to the registration requirement and abusing the identity of other legal bodies to conduct digital service operations amount to serious violations of our regulations,” Sabar said.

World has attracted interest among Indonesians as the system awards tokens to new users who use its iris scanner to scan their irises. It has also raised concerns over user privacy and security. Sabar urged citizens to be cautious about unauthorized digital services and to “contribute” to keeping the country’s digital space “safe and trusted.”

The company’s troubled engagements with regulators in Kenya have returned to a head, meanwhile, with the company given seven days to delete all biometric data collected from people in the country. Kenyans reports a Monday High Court ruling ordered World to delete the iris and face biometrics under the supervision of Kenya’s Data Protection Commissioner. World must also cease operations in Kenya, after Katiba Institute alleged it violated the nation’s data protection law.

World has made headlines with help from co-founder Sam Altman, better known as the CEO of OpenAI, and recently announced a major push into the U.S. market. During the so-called “At Last Event” plans were unveiled to bring its spherical Orb iris scanners to Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville and San Francisco at standalone outlets and inside Razer retail stores. By the end of the year, the company plans to deploy 7,500 orbs.

World has also been banned in Hong Kong for contravening data privacy laws, with face and iris biometric collected by World judged to be “unnecessary and excessive.” Associated company  Tools of Humanity, which is run by World co-founder Alex Blania, also ran afoul of Brazilian privacy watchdogs.

The company has pushed back, with Blania and Altman claiming that World’s iris biometrics system is more privacy-preserving than existing systems. World ID is the company’s Proof of Personhood (PoP) protocol, with World ID Credentials allowing access to Worldcoins.

Article Topics

biometric data  |  biometrics  |  data protection  |  Indonesia  |  Kenya  |  World  |  World ID