The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) of Hong Kong suspended Worldcoin‘s operations. The Hong Kong authorities alleged that Worldcoin kept face and iris images for up to 10 years just for AI model training was not justified.
Hong Kong‘s PCPD conducts its research and finds out that the Worldcoin operations in the country are violating the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO).
The Privacy Commissioner Ada Chung Lai-ling released a notice on May 22, to stop Worldcoin‘s all operations in the country. He finds out that Worldcoin is collecting iris and facial images of the public using iris-scanning devices.
The initial investigation against Worldcoin started in January 2024, To determine whether the information collected by this organization can harm public privacy or not. Further investigation finds that it is directly violating the requirements of the PCPD.
From December 2023 to January 2024, the PCPD secretly visited six places involved in the Worldcoin project ten times.
According to the report of PCPD, collecting face images was unnecessary to confirm if participants were human. The iris scanning device operators could already do this in person at the locations, making face image collection an extra and unnecessary step.
The PDPC also claimed that Worldcoin failed to provide enough information. This makes it hard for people to make informed choices and give real consent.
Further investigation revealed that the privacy policy was only available in English. This means that the participants who don’t understand English, cannot understand the policies and practices of this platform. The PDPC said:
[…] the iris scanning device operators at the operating locations also did not offer any explanation or confirmed the participants’ understanding of the aforesaid documents. They also did not inform the participants the possible risks pertaining to their disclosure of biometric data, nor answered their questions.
Under these circumstances, the PDPC ordered them to stop all their projects as they were violating data protection principles.
A total of 8,302 participants scanned their irises During Wolrdcoin‘s operations in Hong Kong.
The project started in 2021, and over two million people joined before it officially launched in July 2023. Worldcoin has raised privacy worries in several countries, causing services to stop in Kenya and the pausing of iris scans in India.
