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Worldcoin (WLD) is under investigation for privacy in Hong Kong. Authorities have obtained a warrant to enter the six offices and seize the sensitive data collection documents of the crypto project’s biometric scanning.
Summary
Worldcoin (WLD) and Hong Kong’s privacy investigation on the crypto project
According to what is reported, it seems that the crypto project of Worldcoin (WLD) is under investigation for privacy.
The authorities of Hong Kong from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner have obtained a warrant to seize documents related to the use of data collected by Worldcoin.
This is a real control for the biometric scanning crypto project. On Wednesday, in fact, privacy authorities visited the six Worldcoin offices in the city, located in Yau Ma Tei, Kwun Tong, Wan Chai, Cyberport, Central, and Causeway Bay,
In this regard, Chung Liling, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong, stated that the public should be more vigilant about their biometric data and should also avoid casually giving it to third parties.
Not by chance, the crypto project offers 25 WLD to those users who scan their eyes through the Orb optical device. Orb collects the data and demonstrates the “personality” of each verified user.
This procedure has been deemed by privacy authorities as a possible violation of certain provisions of the city’s privacy ordinance.
Worldcoin (WLD) and the privacy of the crypto project’s users
While browsing the Worldcoin privacy FAQs page, the crypto project clarifies the following:
“Does Orb store biometric images? By default, Orb immediately deletes iris images after creating the iris code. Individuals have the option to back up their images when verifying their World ID. Iris images are shared with Worldcoin to train the project’s iris detection and segmentation models and similar algorithms.”
In practice, by default, the Orb device promptly deletes the scanned iris images of the user, after creating the iris code.
However, users can choose to store their biometric data on servers distributed by Worldcoin.
The Worldcoin signed method, besides Hong Kong, seems to be disliked by other countries as well. In fact, the crypto project has also been investigated in Argentina, France, and Kenya.
The price of WLD
At the moment, the Worldcoin privacy investigation does not seem to be affecting the price of its WLD token.
And indeed, WLD is now worth $2.33, with a +4.4% pump in the last 24 hours. Not only that, exactly on Tuesday 30/1, WLD recorded a more substantial pump in price that brought it to reach $2.72.
However, around the Christmas period, WLD had reached $4.44, exactly on December 17, 2023. This pump came in conjunction with the launch of World ID 2.0, the “human” digital passport aimed at safeguarding privacy and distinguishing between bots and human users online.
To complement World ID 2.0 since its launch, general apps and services such as Shopify, Minecraft, and Reddit have been added.