The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) closes the door to Worldcoin and has forced the company to provisionally interrupt its activities in Spain. In addition, it has been prohibited from continuing to scan the irises of thousands of people and collecting personal data in this way.
The company began in various places around the world a few months ago to scan the irises of volunteers in exchange for financial compensation – cryptocurrencies – and has argued that all the information it collects is anonymous and users maintain control of our data at all times. .
The AEPD, which on February 20 confirmed that it was investigating four complaints about this activity, has decided as a precautionary measure to prohibit the company from continuing with this practice, the director of the organization, Mar España, reported this Wednesday at a press conference in Madrid.
Compensation in exchange for the iris
Worldcoin has been offering financial compensation for months to thousands of people who have agreed to have their iris scanned, and has stated that all information collected through the project is anonymous and users maintain permanent control of their data. To report on the project that this company has launched and try to clear up the doubts it has generated, company officials compared a few days ago before a group of journalists and defended that the initiative complies with all European and Spanish protection standards. . in the data.
Ricardo Macieira, director for Europe of the company Tools for Humanity, explained that the project tries to design a technology capable of distinguishing between a “single human” and a “bot” or a “chatbot” – computer systems that operate in a robotic manner. -.
What does the iris scan collect?
According to the company, the data collected after scanning the iris of people who voluntarily participate is encrypted and stored anonymously, the image taken of the iris is instantly erased to become an encrypted code and in no way The data remains associated with identity documents, emails or telephones. Control is “always” in the hands of the person who participated.
To download the application and belong to that “network” it is not necessary to give your name, email or telephone number, and all the information used for this “human singularity” is deleted by default, those responsible have assured, who have insisted in which the only information that is retained is a message containing an iris code (not the iris image) that guarantees that “uniqueness”, but is not linked to an account in the application nor does it include information about a person or their identity.
Payment with cryptocurrencies
The company “does not pay” users for the transfer of their data, but rather provides a “token”. The company has created its own cryptocurrency or “token” (called “WLD”), which users receive upon registration. They can only access those over 18 years of age and the data will never be transferred or sold to third parties.
