Sam Altman. Image: Village Global via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
The controversial start-up’s latest hurdle comes from Portugal’s data regulator, which has raised concerns about data protection.
Worldcoin, an AI start-up that aims to create digital identification for people by scanning their eyes, has been hit with a temporary ban in Portugal.
The controversial company backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman was issued with a three-month ban after Portugal’s data watchdog, CNPD, received reports that the Worldcoin’s eye-scanning orbs were collecting data from minors without their parents’ authorisation.
The data authority also said the company provides insufficient information to users regarding their data and raised concerns about the lack of a mechanism to verify the age of users.
Portugal’s ban follows scrutiny from several other European countries. Earlier this month, Spain’s data protection authority ordered Worldcoin to temporarily stop collecting and processing personal data from people. Worldcoin fought this but failed to get an injunction against the suspension.
While Germany is the only European country still listed on Worldcoin’s website where eye scanning is available, the Bavaria data protection authority has been investigating the biometric scanning company since 2022.
According to the company’s website, its eyeball-scanning orbs are also still available in the US, Japan, Singapore, Argentina and Chile.
What exactly is Worldcoin?
Officially launched in July 2023, Worldcoin started as a crypto project which aimed to distribute a crypto token to people in exchange for a scan of their irises. The company behind Worldcoin is called Tools for Humanity and was founded by Altman, Max Novendstern and Alex Blania in 2019.
Altman, the face we now associate with OpenAI and ChatGPT, raised $115m in Series C funding for Worldcoin in 2023. Its backers include Blockchain Capital, a16z Crypto and Bain Capital Crypto.
According to Altman and his co-founder Alex Blania, the overall aim of these eyeball scans is to create digital IDs for people with biometric verification. He also said the financial, crypto side of the business could lead to universal basic income for its users. The offering of crypto tokens in exchange for scans also ensured widespread interest and early adoption.
‘Don’t catalogue eyeballs’
While the company claims to be compliant with all laws and regulations governing biometric data collection, its practices have come under intense scrutiny from the get-go.
Aside from the German data watchdog’s ongoing in-depth investigation and the most recent bans from Spain and Portugal, Kenya became the first country to suspend the company’s activities amid concerns that thousands of its citizens were signing up for scans due to the financial incentive.
Other countries were also quick to scrutinise Worldcoin’s biometric data practices, including the UK and France. In December 2023, the company pulled back from France, Brazil and India. At the time, the company said this was because its activities in France and Brazil were limited-time previews rather than long-term roll-outs, while the pause in India was due to further development work needed to meet demand.
Even as far back as October 2021, when Altman first introduced the Worldcoin project on Twitter, now X, surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden criticised the use of biometrics, saying: “Don’t catalogue eyeballs”.
However, in a statement sent to SiliconRepublic.com, Jannick Preiwisch, data protection officer at the Worldcoin Foundation, said the company is fully compliant with all laws in relation to the collection and transfer of biometric data, including Europe’s GDPR.
“The Worldcoin Foundation has the utmost respect for the role and responsibilities of data protection authorities, in the CNPD in Portugal. Since offering humanness verification services in Portugal, we have been completely transparent and happy to address CNPD’s questions or concerns,” he said.
“The report from CNPD is the first time we are hearing from them regarding many of these matters, including reports of underage sign-ups in Portugal, for which we have zero tolerance for and are working to address in all instances, even if a matter of a few reports.”
Sam Altman. Image: Village Global via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Updated, 3.50pm, 27 March 2024: This article was updated to include a statement from Worldcoin.
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