Although World has reached a significant milestone, regulatory headwinds across jurisdictions remain a challenge for the project.
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World, formerly known as Worldcoin, recently announced the milestone of verifying 10 million human beings on its digital identity network.
Worldcoin uses a network of orbs to collect biometric data to establish proof of personhood — identifiers that verify an individual is human and who that individual is.
The company says proof of personhood is necessary due to rapid AI development, which threatens the reliability of information and intellectual property rights. In a Jan. 9 blog post, the World team wrote:
“As AI agents evolve, proof of human will likely provide the cornerstone for enabling ethical and scalable AI, ensuring humans remain empowered creators in a world increasingly shaped by intelligent machines.”
Digital ID continues to be a hotly debated topic, with critics arguing that digital ID schemes threaten privacy and can be abused by authoritarian governments.
High-level illustration of the World Network and its constituent parts. Source: World whitepaper
Related: German watchdog orders Worldcoin to delete non-compliant data
Worldcoin draws scrutiny from government regulators
Worldcoin has drawn significant legal scrutiny and has been ordered by state regulators in multiple jurisdictions to cease operations.
Kenya was the first country to ban Worldcoin, on Aug. 2, 2023, citing potential national security and privacy risks from the collection and storage of biometric data.
In March 2024, Worldcoin was ordered to stop collecting data in Spain for a three-month period and later agreed to suspend operations for the rest of 2024.
The suspension followed a probe from Spain’s Agency for the Protection of Data over allegations of denying user consent withdrawal and collecting data from minors.
The company denied the claims and insisted that it operates lawfully in all the jurisdictions covered by the network.
Portugal also banned Worldcoin for 90 days in March — citing the need to protect the privacy rights of citizens and prevent potentially unlawful harvesting of biometric data.
Hong Kong’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ordered Worldcoin to cease operations in Hong Kong in May.
More recently, in September, South Korea fined Worldcoin 1.1 billion Korean won, valued at $829,000, for allegedly violating personal data protection laws.
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Cointelegraph by Vince Quill