It's interesting to see how far Worldcoin went by at this point.
While the Sam Altman-founded crypto venture can easily pique everyone's interest with its eyeball-scanning tech that exchanges iris cans for free crypto tokens, some people are not still convinced to use it.
Most likely, the recent privacy complaints in Germany, France, and other parts of Europe could likely attract the attention of the European Union (EU) regarding the matter.
Worldcoin in a Sea of Privacy Issues
Right now, Germany remains the lone EU market that allows Worldcoin to run free eyeball-scanning wonders. However, things might escalate quickly if Bavaria's data protection authority could dig deeper into the outcome of the probe.
According to TechCrunch, the authority's spokesman said that the conclusions regarding the ongoing investigation will be published by mid-July.
"Taking into account further steps to align with other SA's [supervisory authorities] I currently expect results that we are able to use in public in mid-July 2024," he told the publication.
Related Article : Worldcoin's European Presence Shrinks Further with Portugal Ban
How Worldcoin Violates Your Personal Data
According to some complaints, the EU is concerned with how it breached the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the bloc. If proven that Worldcoin is indeed violating a user's privacy, the EU could order non-compliant processing to halt its operations on top of slapping up to a 4% fine.
If Worldcoin wants to comply with what the EU wants, Altman and his friends need to change some parts of its system, particularly on how personal information is gathered and stored in its database. However, blockchains do not work like that so that won't be the case.
Apart from that, some complaints strike Worldcoin if it's transparent and fair to all requirements.
Children Face Risk Using Worldcoin
EU regulators are also worried that Worldcoin could put children's privacy in danger. Scanning the eyeballs of the minors could bring more problems in the long run such as nonconsensual sharing of biometrics data.
Coin Telegraph reports that Worldcoin suspended its operations in Spain as a data protection probe pushes. Even though its three-month ban will expire, the country chose not to relaunch it for good.
With that in mind, Spain's DPA anticipates seeing how the Bavarian data protection authority fares and what is the result of their investigation. Their next move might depend on the next outcome of the probe.
Outside Europe, Kenya's government suspended Worldcoin amid the same issues shared by EU regions. The African country's Communications authority voiced out that the crypto venture could impact biometric data storage, private data collection, and money conversion.
If Altman is really into changing lives, he won't only think of Worldcoin as a source of income for some users. Making it as humane as possible by safeguarding the people's sensitive data should be his priority at best.
