Hong
Kong’s
Office
of
the
Privacy
Commissioner
for
Personal
Data
(PCPD)
has
served
an
enforcement
notice
to
Worldcoin,
a
crypto
project
co-founded
by
OpenAI’s
CEO
Sam
Altman,
asking
them
to
cease
operations.
The
resolution
concludes
the
investigation
launched
by
the
PCPD
in
January
2024.
Hong
Kong
Halts
Worldcoin
Activities
At
the
beginning
of
the
year,
Hong
Kong’s
PCPD
announced
it
would
investigate
Worldcoin’s
activities
as
they
could
pose
a
“risk
to
personal
data
privacy.”
The
Privacy
Commission
investigated
six
Worldcoin
facilities
in
Yau
Ma
Tei,
Kwun
Tong,
Wan
Chai,
Cyberport,
Central,
and
Causeway
Bay.
PCPD’s
Privacy
Commissioner,
Ada
Chung
Lai-ling,
found
that
the
crypto
project
had
broken
the
Data
Protection
Principles
(DPPs)
regarding
the
collection,
retention
transparency,
data
access,
and
correction
rights.
The
Worldcoin
project
scanned
participants’
iris
to
verify
their
identity
and
receive
the
project’s
native
cryptocurrency,
WLD.
According
to
the
statement,
the
investigation
revealed
that
participants
were
required
to
allow
certain
organizations
to
collect
their
faces
and
iris
images
through
iris
scanning
in
an
“unnecessary
and
excessive”
manner.
The
project
confirmed
that
8,302
individuals
had
their
faces
and
irises
scanned
for
verification
during
its
operation
in
Hong
Kong.
PCPD
argues
that
the
project
collected
personal
data
“unfairly”
as
important
policies
were
not
available
in
Chinese:
In
particular,
the
relevant
“Privacy
Notice”
and
“Biometric
Data
Consent
Form”
were
not
available
in
Chinese,
the
iris
scanning
device
operators
at
the
operating
locations
also
did
not
offer
any
explanation
or
confirmed
the
participants’
understanding
of
the
aforesaid
documents.
The
Privacy
Commission
considers
there
was
a
lack
of
sufficient
transparency
for
those
using
the
Chinese-language
version
to
understand
and
consent
to
the
relevant
policies.
Additionally,
Hong
Kong’s
PCPD
stated
that
Worldcoin
did
not
inform
participants
of
the
risks
involving
their
disclosure
of
biometric
data
nor
answer
users’
questions.
Therefore,
the
project
contravened
the
Personal
Data
Privacy
Ordinance
(PDPO)
as
participants
did
not
have
the
“means
to
exercise
their
rights
of
data
access
and
correction.”
Based
on
this,
the
commission
asked
for
the
immediate
cease
of
the
Worldcoin
Foundation’s
operations
involving
scanning
and
collecting
iris
and
face
images
of
the
public
using
iris
scanning
devices
in
Hong
Kong.
Global
Scrutiny
And
New
System
Hong
Kong’s
crackdown
is
one
of
many
challenges
faced
by
Worldcoin
worldwide.
Since
its
announcement,
the
project
has
faced
global
regulatory
scrutiny
from
countries
like
Germany,
France,
and
Kenya.
Amid
the
global
challenges,
the
Worldcoin
Foundation
recently
unveiled
a
new
open-source
system
to
tackle
some
of
the
issues
raised
by
authorities.
The
new
system
allows
the
project
to
adopt
advanced
data
protection
measures
to
more
effectively
“safeguard
sensitive
information.”
Through
its
secure
multi-party
computation
(SMPC),
Worldcoin
has
increased
the
security
of
the
stored
information
by
distributing
the
data
through
different
locations.
As
a
result,
Worldcoin
has
deleted
the
iris
codes
obtained
during
user
registration.
Ultimately,
the
new
approach
aims
to
address
concerns
about
sensitive
data
storage,
scale,
and
cost
limitations,
reducing
the
risk
of
security
breaches.
WLD is trading at $5.05 in the weekly chart. Source: WLDUSDT on TradingView
Featured
Image
from
Unsplash.com,
Chart
from
TradingView.com
Go to Source
Author: Rubmar Garcia
