Sam Altman’s cryptocurrency company Worldcoin has been ordered by Spain to stop collecting and using people’s personal data.
The country’s data protection regulator, AEPD, has effectively banned Worldcoin for up to three months, which the organization said constitutes “a circumvention of EU law.”
Launched last year, Worldcoin distributes tokens to people “just because they are a unique individual.” To prove their uniqueness and obtain the token, people’s eyeballs are scanned by a piece of hardware called “The Orb.”
AEPD says it has received several complaints about the project, including that insufficient information is provided to users, that data from minors is collected, and that consent cannot be revoked.
The regulator says the processing of biometric data, which enjoys special protection under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), “poses high risks to the rights of individuals.”
She therefore took urgent measures “to avoid potentially irreparable damage”.
In a statement, Worldcoin data protection officer Jannick Preiwisch said: “Our efforts to work with the AEPD and provide them with an accurate overview of Worldcoin and World ID have gone unanswered for months.
“We are grateful to now have the opportunity to help them better understand the important facts of this essential and lawful technology.”
Worldcoin has contacted the relevant Bavarian state authority in Germany and is investigating the company.