{"id":847915,"date":"2025-05-13T09:11:53","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T14:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/kenya-orders-worldcoin-to-cease-biometric-data-collection\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T09:11:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T14:11:53","slug":"kenya-orders-worldcoin-to-cease-biometric-data-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/kenya-orders-worldcoin-to-cease-biometric-data-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya orders Worldcoin to cease biometric data collection"},"content":{"rendered":"
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  7. Kenya orders Worldcoin to cease biometric data collection<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    Worldcoin<\/a> must delete all user data and cease collecting biometric data from Kenyans, the country\u2019s High Court has ruled in the latest blow to Sam Altman<\/a>\u2019s controversial project.<\/p>\n

    Lady Justice Aburili Roselyne ruled<\/a> that the Worldcoin Foundation and its agents must cease \u201cfrom further processing, collecting or dealing in biometric data<\/a>.\u201d They must also not obtain consent from their users through inducement or luring them with digital tokens.<\/p>\n

    The ruling is the culmination of a two-year legal battle that pitted Worldcoin\u2014now known as World\u2014against two local advocacy groups: Katiba Institute and ICJ Kenya. The latter is the Kenyan chapter of the International Commission of Jurists.<\/p>\n

    The court further quashed Worldcoin\u2019s decision to collect user data<\/a> without undertaking a Data Protection Impact Assessment, which violates the country\u2019s Data Protection Act. Worldcoin paid users who offered their biometric data with the WLD token, which also violates the Act.<\/p>\n

    The project must permanently delete all user data within seven days, under the supervision of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC). The judge also revoked its data processing certificate.<\/p>\n

    ICJ Kenya welcomed the ruling, describing it as a \u201cpowerful precedent, not just for Kenya, but globally affirming that rights must remain paramount in technological innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    \u201cThe judgment rightly underscores that even in the digital age, constitutional rights especially the right to must be upheld,\u201d it added<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    The Kenyan chapter of Amnesty International also lauded the ruling, terming it \u201ca significant milestone in the protection of data privacy<\/a> and digital rights in Kenya.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \u201cThe court\u2019s directive to delete all unlawfully obtained biometric data is not just a legal necessity but a critical act of restoring data subject rights and reaffirming human dignity in the digital age,\u201d it stated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    The ruling is the latest blow to Worldcoin in what was one of its largest markets. At launch, the project lured hundreds of thousands of Kenyans with the reward of 25 WLD tokens, worth $55 at the time.<\/p>\n

    However, shortly after, the Kenyan government turned against the project. In August 2023, it ordered<\/a> Worldcoin to shut down and just weeks later, legislators were grilling<\/a> company executives, including<\/a> CEO Alex Blania, over how it was utilizing Kenyans\u2019 data. The lawmakers recommended<\/a> that the government fully shut down the project for \u2018espionage.\u2019<\/p>\n

    While it claimed<\/a> it would resume operations in 2024 after authorities dropped some of the charges against it, Worldcoin has never recovered the Kenyan market.<\/p>\n

    Shortly after the ruling in Kenya, Indonesia\u2019s Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs suspended<\/a> the project over \u201csuspicious activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Watch: Digital identity is a core part of Web3\u2014here\u2019s why<\/p>\n