Worldcoin suspends Spanish operations amid data protection investigation
WorldCoin has legally agreed not to continue operating in Spain until the end of the year, Spain's data watchdog has announced.
On June 4, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) said that the company behind the human identity and financial network WorldCoin will not continue collecting and processing data until the end of 2024 or until final decisions are made. Examination.
Currently, the data protection authority of Bavaria, Germany, the Bavarian State Data Protection Supervisory Authority (BayLDA), is investigating the company regarding its handling of personal user data.
EU investigations continue.
According to the announcement, BayLDA is actively advancing its investigations and a final decision in agreement with all European regulatory authorities is expected to be concluded “soon”.
This includes the Spanish authorities ordering Worldcoin to stop collecting and processing personal data in March 2024 as part of its Worldcoin project in Spain.
During this investigation, Worldcoin strengthened its security measures by opening up its biometric data system and confirmed that users can now securely delete old iris codes.
It also introduced more comprehensive controls to ensure users' age and the ability to remove iris codes.
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Spain and Germany are just two of the many countries that have raised eyebrows at the Worldcoin plan.
On May 22, the project was ordered to cease operations in Hong Kong after it was ruled that it was inappropriate to retain sensitive biometric data for 10 years to train artificial intelligence (AI) models containing facial and iris images.
Worldcoin increases speed
Despite regulators' concerns about WorldCoin's operations, the project is gaining traction in terms of its user base.
In April 2024, it reached the mark of 10 million users and 70 million transactions. A man in Africa made headlines after using cryptocurrency to buy 13 goats.
Also in April, the project announced the launch of its own “human-centric” blockchain network designed to prioritize human users, improve efficiency and enhance real-world services in Web3 applications.
Worldcoin says it will increase its token's WLD by up to 19 percent over the next six months.
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