Investigation against Worldcoin in South Korea amid privacy concerns

The Worldcoin (WLD) project, which has OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as a co-founder, is facing yet another investigation, this time in South Korea. The country’s Personal Information Protection Commission is investigating Worldcoin following complaints related to the collection of personal information from the project.

The complaints received by the Agency occur, in particular, regarding the scanning of people’s irises in exchange for cryptocurrency.

“The Personal Information Protection Committee initiated an investigation on Thursday, February 29, following complaints about the collection and processing of personal information (iris information, etc.) by World Currency and others. It has been confirmed that World Coin affiliates are currently collecting facial and iris recognition information at approximately 10 locations in Korea,” the official wrote.

In a recent statement, the South Korean authority highlighted that it will examine Worldcoin
collection, processing, and potential transfer of personal information that is confidential abroad.

“The Personal Information Commission plans to conduct investigations into the general collection and processing of confidential information and transfer of personal information abroad in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Law and, if violations are confirmed, take action in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations”, he added.

After the news about the price of Worldcoin’s native token, WLD fell. In recent days, cryptocurrency has been standing out in the market with astronomical increases. At the time of publication, the price of Worldcoin was quoted at US$8.00, up 2.1% in the last 24 hours.

It is worth remembering that the UK data regulator, Information Commissioner’s Office, the French privacy regulator, Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) are also investigating Worldcoin. The Worldcoin crypto project was suspended in Kenya in August last year. Additionally, in December, the Worldcoin (WLD) crypto project’s Orb verification service was stopped in the countries of India, Brazil and France.

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