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Updated Friday, March 8, 2024-12:58
Worldcoin has announced that it is going to take legal action against the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) after it presented a precautionary measure that prevented the firm from continuing to process personal data in Spain.
Worldcoin - founded by the CEO of OpenAI and 'father' of ChatGPT, Sam Altman - paid cryptocurrencies to those who allowed them to scan their irises and store this data.
According to the company itself, "Worldcoin fully complies with the laws and regulations governing the collection and transmission of data, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)" of Europe. The company maintains that it has followed European regulation and which has been "in constant dialogue" for months with BayLDA, the Bavarian data protection authority. "We have been disappointed that the Spanish regulator has circumvented the processes and rules accepted by the EU, which leaves us no choice but to take action legal issues," the company details. However, in its statement it does not indicate what its next steps will be.
Broadly speaking, the firm maintains that its activity will serve to verify that an application user is really human.
However, biometric information - the iris itself or the fingerprint, for example - are considered by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) "of special protection."
In its decision, the body stated that it was "necessary to adopt provisional measures" so that the company could immediately stop processing that personal data and to prevent it from being transferred to third parties.