Hong Kong ruled that the iris scanning of Worldcoin "WLD" violated the Privacy Ordinance and ordered it to stop. 8302 people have been scanned
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has completed its investigation into the Worldcoin project and announced its findings yesterday (22nd). After considering the facts of the case and the information obtained from the investigation, Privacy Commissioner Chung Lai-ling ruled that the operation of Worldcoin in Hong Kong violated the data protection principles of the Privacy Ordinance regarding the collection, retention, transparency, access and correction of personal data, and required the Worldcoin project to stop collecting citizens' iris and facial images in Hong Kong using iris scanning devices.
The Privacy Commissioner's Office is concerned that the operation of Worldcoin in Hong Kong involves serious personal data privacy risks, so it took the initiative to launch an investigation into the Worldcoin project in January 2024. From December 2023 to January 2024, the Privacy Commissioner's Office conducted a total of 10 operations at Worldcoin's six operating points in Hong Kong, and on January 31, 2024, with a court warrant, entered the six operating points of the Worldcoin project in Hong Kong located in Yau Ma Tei, Kwun Tong, Wan Chai, Cyberport, Central and Causeway Bay for investigation. After two rounds of inquiries, the investigation has now been completed.

The investigation found that people participating in the Worldcoin project need to allow relevant organizations to collect their faces and iris images through iris scanning to verify human identity and produce iris codes, thereby obtaining a registered identity (i.e. World ID, which Worldcoin calls a digital passport) ), and can obtain virtual currency WLD for free on a regular basis. Worldcoin confirmed that it conducted face and iris scan authentication on a total of 8,302 people during its operations in Hong Kong.
Privacy Commissioner Chung Lai-ling ruled that Worldcoin’s operations in Hong Kong violated the data protection principles of the Privacy Ordinance regarding the collection, retention, transparency, access and correction of personal data, including:
Data Protection Principle 1(1) – The Privacy Commissioner’s Office considers that the collection of facial and iris images by the Worldcoin project is unnecessary and excessive, in violation of Data Protection Principle 1(1).
Data Protection Principle 1(2) - Worldcoin collects personal data unfairly. In particular, the relevant "Privacy Statement" and "Biometric Data Consent Form" not only lack Chinese versions, but the staff at the operation point also do not explain or confirm to participants that they understand the contents of the above documents, nor do they inform participants of the risks of disclosing their biometric data to them, or answer participants' questions.
Data Protection Principle 1(3) – Participants are not clearly informed of the information required to be informed under the law at or before the time of collection of personal data, including the purpose of the collection, whether it is mandatory or voluntary for them to provide their personal data, the categories of persons to whom the data may be transferred, and the rights and means by which the participants may access and correct their personal data.
Data Protection Principle 2(2) – Worldcoin will retain personal data for up to 10 years for the purpose of training the artificial intelligence model used in the identity verification process. The Privacy Commissioner considers that this period is too long and constitutes excessive retention of personal data.
Data Protection Principle 5 - Insufficient transparency of policies and practices regarding processing of personal data. At the relevant time, Worldcoin's Privacy Statement was not available in Chinese. For participants whose native language is Chinese, the Privacy Commissioner's Office believes that participants cannot clearly understand the relevant policies, practices, terms and conditions, and therefore lack transparency.
Data Protection Principle 6 – Participants are unable to exercise their rights of access and correction of personal data.
The Privacy Commissioner has issued an enforcement notice to Worldcoin, requiring the Worldcoin project to stop collecting citizens’ iris and facial images in Hong Kong using iris scanning devices#以太坊ETF批准预期 #BTC走势分析 #BTC #5月市场关键事件 #WLD未来的世界虚拟货币
