Sam Altman's cryptocurrency project is having a hard time as it continues to spark controversy. Worldcoin has been banned in another country, although in this case it is an autonomous part of China, i.e. Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Personal Data Protection Authority ordered Worldcoin to halt all operations in the region. The reason is that Worldcoin violated local privacy laws.
More problems for Altman's project. Why has Worldcoin been banned in Hong Kong only now?
Worldcoin was intended to revolutionize how we approach confirming our human identity on the Internet. Basic income also loomed in the background, driven by the ever-expanding generative artificial intelligence industry. Altman himself is one of the leading faces of this change, which is why his cryptocurrency project seemed completely revolutionary. Ultimately, however, it turns out that Worldcoin is having more and more problems. This is mainly due to the fact that confirmation of human identity and a Worldcoin account is created by scanning the retina of the eye.
It is this fact that makes Worldcoin banned in another country, or rather in the autonomous Hong Kong. The country's Personal Data Protection Authority ordered Worldcoin to halt all operations in the region due to violations of local privacy laws. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection (PCPD) said Worldcoin had collected facial and iris data from at least 8,302 people during its operations in Hong Kong. The PCPD conducted 10 undercover visits to six Worldcoin Orb locations in December 2023 and January 2024, finding that such information collection was “unnecessary and excessive” in violation of the provisions of the Data Protection Principles.
Worldcoin has been banned in Hong Kong despite planned changes to its privacy policy
According to PCPD, Worldcoin would store personal data for a maximum of 10 years in order to train AI models for the user verification process. The agency considered this to be too long and a breach of personal data, thus issuing an order to halt all activities in Hong Kong. Privacy Commissioner Ada Chung urged residents to report to the agency if they discover Worldcoin still operating in the city and not following PCPD recommendations. It is worth pointing out that Worldcoin has been banned in many other countries such as Kenya. It is worth adding that Worldcoin announced changes to its privacy policy so that users decide about the fate of biometric data.
