Worldcoin's Major Win in Kenya

Worldcoin, an AI crypto and digital identity project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, secured a legal victory in Kenya. In late 2023, Kenyan authorities issued an operations suspension order.

According to an official statement from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) of the National Police Service, Kenyan police have dropped their investigation into Worldcoin.

The statement, dated June 14, 2024, addressed an update request from Worldcoin lawyers regarding the status of the investigation filed in May 2024.

The DCI expeditiously and objectively investigated an array of allegations about the activities of Worldcoin in Kenya in 2022/3 and touched on the alleged unlawful collection and transfer of sensitive personal data, the authority wrote.

Recommendations and Future Plans

Following the end of the investigation, the Kenyan police recommended Worldcoin to ensure business registration in the country and proper licensing, with coordination by the office of the Data Protection Commission and the Communication Authority of Kenya.

Additionally, the authority advised to ensure intensive vetting and legal contracting of all third-party vendors within Kenya.

Tools for Humanity, the developer of Worldcoin, hopes to bring the project back to Kenya. "We are grateful for the DCI's fair investigation and for the Director of Public Prosecutions' determination to close the matter," said Thomas Scott, Tools for Humanity's chief legal officer.

In a statement to Cointelegraph, Scott expressed optimism about the future operations of Worldcoin in Kenya, stating: ' This welcome result is, however, not an end but a beginning. We will continue working with the government of Kenya and others, and we hope to resume World ID registration nationwide soon.'

The Road Ahead for Worldcoin

The Worldcoin project was officially launched in July 2023, following three years of development.

Worldcoin's mission builds on providing tools to differentiate humans from artificial intelligence by scanning an individual's IRIS, which stands for Intelligent Retrieval Information System. After the scan, Worldcoin issues a World ID, allowing individuals to prove they are real human beings online.

Worldcoin's unique digital ID offering triggered concerns from global regulators over the privacy and protection of users' data.

A few weeks after its launch, Worldcoin was banned in Kenya, as the local government halted all local activity associated with the platform, including biometric identification. Worldcoin subsequently said it was working with the Kenyan government to resume operations in 2024.

Global Challenges and Growth

Kenya is one of many jurisdictions that have had issues with Worldcoin so far. Several other countries, including India, South Korea, Germany, and Brazil, also investigated the company's data collection practices. In May 2024, Worldcoin was ordered to stop operations in Hong Kong over privacy violations.

Despite a rough start in some countries, the Worldcoin network has grown notably since its launch. As of April 2024, Worldcoin's World App had 10 million registered users, an average of 2 million daily users, and more than 5 million monthly active users.

For additional information, stay tuned for an upcoming episode of the Decentralize with Cointelegraph podcast, in which we sat down with Tools for Humanity, a pivotal contributor to Worldcoin, to understand the project and its mission better.