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AII-1001-92447
ReportedReported by fewer than three independent publishers, with no official finding.

Worldcoin iris-scan system faces bans in multiple countries over privacy concerns

Tools for Humanity's Worldcoin iris-scan system launched in the US in May 2025 to create digital identities and distribute cryptocurrency, but has faced bans in multiple countries over biometric data security concerns, causing the cryptocurrency to lose significant value.

4 May 2025 · Tools for Humanity · Privacy and surveillance
4 May 2025

Drafted by Raidu Incident Detection, an automated system.

AII-1001-924472 sources ↓
Quick facts
Category
Privacy and surveillance
Country
United States
Source
Le Figaro.fr
Date
4 May 2025
Drafted by
Raidu Incident Detection

What happened

Tools for Humanity launched Worldcoin, an iris-scanning system using devices called orbs to create digital identities and distribute cryptocurrency, in the United States in early May 2025.

The system has faced restrictions and bans in several countries due to concerns about the security of biometric data.

Reported impact

The cryptocurrency's value collapsed from nearly 12 dollars in March 2024 to under 2 dollars following successive country bans, and currently trades at 0.88 dollars.

Classification

Category
Privacy and surveillance
Industry
Digital security
Country
United States
Harm status
Potential harm
Intent
Unintentional
Timing
Post-deployment
Harm types
Economic or property
Harmed
Consumers
AI systems
Worldcoin

Sources and evidence

This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.

Le Figaro.fr
"Inutile, inefficace et dangereux"... Qu'est-ce que "Worldcoin", le projet de cryptomonnaie controversé du fondateur d'OpenAI ?
6 May 2025
SudOuest.fr
Qu'est-ce que le worldcoin, la cryptomonnaie, qui doit prouver que nous ne sommes pas des robots ?
7 May 2025