Portugal orders Worldcoin to stop collecting iris biometrics for 90 days
Portugal’s data regulator, the Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD), has imposed a 90-day suspension on Worldcoin’s biometric data collection activities in the country, citing complaints about the unauthorized collection of data from minors, inadequate communications regarding their iris-scanning Orb program offering crypto tokens in exchange for biometrics, and other risks to personal digital rights.
In a release, the CNPD says the “urgent provisional measure” is in response to a notable spike in activity by the firm, with the number of locations hosting an Orb device for biometric data capture almost doubling in six months. Furthermore, says the regulator, “there is no mechanism for verifying the age of members.”
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Reuters reports the CNPD suspension applies to the Worldcoin Foundation – “a Cayman Islands entity described on its website as ‘memberless’, having no owners or shareholders.” It is intended to be temporary while the data regulator does due diligence in following up on complaints. But observers of the Worldcoin story might find themselves likening it to a game of Whac-A-Mole, as the company pops up in country after country, only to find itself facing the regulatory hammer.
Portugal joins Kenya, Spain, Germany, France, India, Brazil, Argentina, South Korea and Hong Kong in raising regulatory eyebrows at Worldcoin, which is owned by Tools for Humanity, a venture of Open AI creator Sam Altman.
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