Kenya’s Government Suspends Worldcoin Crypto Project

On Wednesday, Kenya announced that it would suspend the eyeball scan-based Worldcoin crypto project launched recently in several countries. The higher authorities made sure that the project did not breach the citizens’ privacy before they allowed it to gather the iris scan data.

The project did not receive a warm welcome in Kenya as the governing authorities disrupted its operation in the country. On 2nd August, Wednesday, the Kenyan minister announced that they would not be allowing the launch of the Worldcoin project in their country as it may pose serious security threats.

The Worldcoin crypto project was launched last week, which required iris scans of its users to prove their unique digital identity. The project also aimed at providing free cryptocurrency to users to create their identity and be a part of the financial system.

The Kenyan interior minister Kithure Kindiki elaborated in a statement issued on 2nd August via his Facebook that the security agencies in the country have investigated the authenticity of the project and how it harvests and utilizes the data.

He further said that it led to the suspension of the project as the Kenyan government has mentioned their concerns with the Worldcoin project collecting critical credentials such as iris scans.

Worldcoin aimed to create an iris scan-based worldwide identification system that would be helpful in proving the uniqueness of any human and discriminating between AI bots and actual humans.

However, collecting biometric credentials and the method followed by the project to sign up has faced massive criticism in developing countries, where the authorities are concerned about the project exploiting personal data.

Worldcoin project is undergoing several regulatory checks in many European countries; however, Kenya is the first country to officially take a step further and announce the project’s suspension in their country as the investigations are being carried out.