On the 27th of July, the most excellent Cryptogod brought us news of WorldCoin (the cryptocurrency project using biometric iris/retina scanners to determine humanity), in his post titled Vitalik Buterin Concerned over WorldCoin.

In the course of the past few days, while following shortlinks in order to earn Nano (XNO) from one of the faucets I use, I happened to stumble across articles reporting that both Argentinian and Kenyan agencies are investigating WorldCoin (WLD). I'm glad to see that such action is underway. The idea of being subjected to retinal scans, likely without my consent, by some organisation about which I know little, does not strike me as something about which I'm at all happy, not in the slightest. I already go around wearing a hat/hoodie, sunglasses with mirror coating and mask to complicate/evade identification on various cameras whenever I go out (thank goodness for COVID-19 normalising wearing a mask), so hopefully that habit helps, but still, yikes! I'll happily take a little personal inconvenience and odd looks for the sake of my privacy. If that's not enough, I might have to purchase some spectacles with infrared LEDs on them, to thwart facial recognition cameras that operate in that spectrum. The worst case is probably having my eyes removed and getting digital implants, but that strikes me as extreme (and I'll presumably end up in some DB for having the procedure, anyway, knowing how these things go).

Maybe I'm being overly paranoid, but I'd rather be overzealous than not when I don't know whom is on the other end and reviewing what those cameras capture, even if supposedly "for your protection". My protection from what, exactly, having some privacy and no records in some corporation's DB?

Anyway, to the point: Argentina's Agency for Access to Public Information (AAIP), a government organisation, is supposedly the latest to launch an investigation into WorldCoin, allegedly following France's National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (NCIL), Germany's Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (BSODPS) and Kenya's Office of the Data Privacy Commissioner (ODPC), according to Coin Telegraph and other sources. British data privacy authorities, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), also intend to launch an investigation.

The Argentinian agency stated that it was "investigating WorldCoin over its collection, storage and use of customer data to ensure it complies with security and privacy regulations". AAIP intends to "analyze the processes and practices in relation to the collection, storage and use of personal data" and "verify the security measures adopted within the framework of the protection of the privacy [sic]".

The project's use of retinal scanners to verify the humanity of participants/users has many (myself included) concerned about their privacy and the storage of personal data, particularly since one of the project's co-founders is associated with OpenAI.

Argentinian law requires organizations collecting or processing sensitive data, such as biometrics, to provide clear and accessible information on the purpose of data collection and use.

WorldCoin claims that "... the iris structure is used to generate a unique code (IrisHash) that is saved on the project’s distributed ledger. As an added layer of protection, scans cannot be traced to specific individuals", but I have my doubts. I'd have to read the project's whitepaper to see if they detail how this is done before I'd be willing to take them at their word. (I suspect it isn't disclosed.) At any rate, the best way to protect that data is to not let anyone have it in the first place.

AAIP wants to know what steps WorldCoin has taken to comply with Argentina’s data protection law, its purpose for collecting biometric data, and to where it is planning to expand the operation of its Orbs. (So do I.) AAIP, however, does not state what action it tends to take against the project should it find any breaches or violations.

"Cases like this show the need to strengthen the current legal framework regarding the Protection of Personal Data. Citizens have the right, whenever personal data is provided, to have clear and accessible information in relation to the assignment, use and purpose for which the data is collected and processed, especially with regard to sensitive data, such as biometric data."
 — AAIP

The French agency, meanwhile, has called the project's methods of data collection and verification "questionable" at best. The CNIL is also undecided on the project's legality. It is collaborating with Germany's Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (BSODPS), which is leading the investigation, according to Reuters.

"The legality of this collection seems questionable, as do the conditions for storing biometric data."
 — CNIL

Kenya has gone one step further. The minister of internal security has called for suspension of WorldCoin's operations within the country until such time as authorities have assessed the risk it poses to citizens. Kenyan police have also raided a WorldCoin data warehouse and seized computer equipment, according to one of the country's local news agencies, The Star. The Kenyan body has launched an investigation "to ensure compliance with the law".

"The expeditious preservation of the personal data from vulnerable loss or modification is imperative to ensure comprehensive investigations on the processing of the personal data by the respondents in Kenya."
 — Oscar Otieno, Deputy Data Commissioner of the ODPC

Prior to these developments, however, more than two million idiots (including a quarter of a million Kenyans) apparently signed up to WorldCoin before it was launched in July. The project uses a device called an "orb" (a shiny metallic sphere with a camera in it) to perform the scans, in compensation for the project's currency. To me, they look like some sort of retro-futuristic spy drones that wouldn't be out of place in 2001: A Space Oddysey.

Since all this has happened over the course of only two to three months, it's still too early to tell what the outcome of all these investigations is likely to be (particularly knowing how slowly government agencies work), How Sam Altman and co will respond or what WorldCoin will do next. I expect to see WorldCoin banned from operating (or at least using biometric technology) in certain countries. At any rate, I'm certainly in no rush to jump on the bandwagon, but I will be keeping an eye out for further developments. I'll stick to Monero, ZCash and the cryptocurrencies already in my various wallets. I've got enough of them of which to keep track as is without some "questionable" organisation mapping my eyeballs and storing that data on a blockchain in exchange for some crypto.

You'll never be mine, oh, but you've got my eyes ...

Meanwhile, Google, Meta and OpenAI (of which Sam Altman, co-founder of WorldCoin, is a member) continue to violate privacy laws by using personal data to train their AI algorthms and products based thereon, while regulators lag behind ...

Thumbnail image: Screenshot from dystopian SciFi The Leap (edited in GIMP)