Worldcoin faces legal action over biometric data collection practices
Worldcoin faces legal action in Chile and investigation in Colombia over its iris-scanning biometric data collection system. Regulators found the company inadequately informed users about data use, lacked proper privacy safeguards, and in Colombia reportedly offered homeless people compensation that was not fully delivered.
What happened
The Chilean consumer protection authority Sernac filed a lawsuit against Grupo Optimistic SpA (Worldcoin) for irregularities in biometric iris data collection. Sernac found the company collected iris scans without adequately informing users about how their data would be used and treated.
In Colombia, the SIC opened an investigation into Worldcoin for violations of data protection rules. Community leaders in Bucaramanga reported that Worldcoin was offering iris scans to homeless people, offering 40,000 pesos but reportedly delivering only 10,000 pesos.
Reported impact
Sernac stated the company lacked adequate mechanisms in Chile to protect consumer privacy and that lack of transparency and misuse of personal data violated national data protection laws. The company did not adequately identify entities that handled the data or provide users with a way to delete their information from its blockchain network.
Index analysis
The incidents span multiple countries including Chile, Colombia, and reportedly France, Portugal, Spain, Kenya and Argentina. In some territories the company's activities have been prohibited.
Governance controls
In early July, Worldcoin stated it had implemented measures to improve security of its operations.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.