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Among today’s crypto news, there is the announcement by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) to suspend Worldcoin (WLD) for up to three months in Spain.
The AEPD has received several complaints about the crypto project with iris scanning, to the point of carrying out a broader investigation.
Summary
Crypto news: Worldcoin (WLD) has been suspended in Spain for up to three months
In Spain, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) has announced the prohibition of the Worldcoin (WLD) crypto project for up to three months.
La decisión está basada en circunstancias excepcionales, en las que resulta necesario adoptar medidas dirigidas al cese inmediato del tratamiento para salvaguardar el derecho a la protección de datos.
— Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (@AEPD_es) March 6, 2024
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“The AEPD orders an injunction preventing Worldcoin from continuing to process personal data in Spain.”
The decision is based on exceptional circumstances, in which it is necessary to adopt measures aimed at the immediate cessation of treatment to safeguard the right to data protection.
Basically, the AEPD has ordered a precautionary measure against Tools for Humanity Corporation, the main developer company of Worldcoin. The project’s business model involves scanning people’s irises in exchange for cryptocurrency.
Specifically, the AEPD is asking Worldcoin to cease the collection and processing of special categories of personal data and to block the data already collected.
This is because the Spanish regulatory body has received several complaints such as violations, insufficient information, collection of data from minors, and inability to revoke consent.
On this subject, therefore, Spain will see the temporary ban of Worldcoin activities for a maximum of three months, as a precautionary measure. Here is an excerpt from the statement:
“This decision is based on exceptional circumstances, where it is necessary to adopt precautionary measures aimed at the immediate cessation of processing activities to prevent the possible transfer of data to third parties and to safeguard the fundamental right to the protection of personal data.”
Crypto news: Worldcoin’s (WLD) response to the temporary ban in Spain
At the same time, Worldcoin wanted to respond to this temporary ban imposed in Spain, stating that World ID is a secure and permissionless identity protocol.
Basically, the crypto project wanted to specify that it operates legally under the strict supervision of the Bavarian Data Protection Authority (BayLDA), the regulatory body responsible for overseeing compliance with GDPR throughout the EU (Lead Supervisory Authority).
Not only that, Worldcoin also stated that project contributors have regularly responded to BayLDA’s requests for months, operating legally in Spain and in some other European countries.
In this regard, Jannick Preiwisch, data protection officer of Worldcoin Foundation, commented:
“For over a year we have been working with BayLDA, which is the main supervisory authority under the GDPR for Worldcoin Foundation and Tools for Humanity.
It is regrettable that the AEPD is circumventing the procedures established by the GDPR with its actions today, which are limited to Spain and not to the broader EU. It is equally unfortunate that they are spreading inaccurate and misleading statements about our technology globally, after our efforts to provide them with an accurate view of Worldcoin and World ID have gone unanswered for months.
Privacy investigations and the price of WLD
Spain is not the first country to investigate the crypto project of Worldcoin (WLD). The reason is always the same, that is to safeguard the privacy of the data collected by the biometric scanning project.
And indeed, last month, even the authorities of Hong Kong seem to have put under investigation Worldcoin, obtaining a warrant to seize the documents related to the use of the collected data.
The privacy authorities of Hong Kong managed to visit the six offices of Worldcoin and warned the general public to pay more attention to their biometric data.
Nevertheless, in the last month, the price of WLD has pumped by +227%. At the time of writing, WLD is worth $7.39 and its total market cap of $753 million places it in 26th place in the crypto rankings.
The real price surge of WLD happened in mid-February, before the major bull run of Bitcoin and the main cryptocurrencies.
The price pump of WLD represented a potential gain for creditors associated with entities like Three Arrow Capital and FTX, highlighting the importance of strategic investments in the crypto space.