Kenyan High Court Slams Sam Altman's World Over Privacy Violations

A Kenyan court has ruled that World (formerly Worldcoin) engaged in unlawful biometric data collection practices in the country, granting a legal victory to digital rights advocates.

Kenyan High Court Slams Sam Altman’s World Over Privacy Violations

The court’s decision comes amid broader challenges to the crypto and identity project.

The Katiba Institute, a legal organization in Kenya, filed an application for judicial review against the Worldcoin Foundation and its agents.

The goal was to halt the foundation’s activities related to collecting and processing biometric data from Kenyans.

In her judgment on Monday, Justice Aburili Roselyne granted the application in part.

The judge ordered the foundation and its agents to cease and desist from any further processing, collecting, or dealing in biometric data. This includes collecting such data without undertaking or using an inadequate Data Protection Impact Assessment.

The court also ruled that any previously collected data from Kenyan users should be permanently deleted within seven days.

“An order of prohibition is issued restraining Worldcoin Foundation and its agents from further processing, collecting or dealing in Biometric data without undertaking (or using an inadequate) Data Protection Impact Assessment or using consent obtained by the inducement of a cryptocurrency - Worldcoin.

The judge granted an order of certiorari, effectively quashing the foundation’s decision to collect and process such data in Kenya. She cited violations of Kenya’s Data Protection Act, 2019.

A third order of mandamus compels the foundation to delete all biometric data obtained within seven days permanently. The court called out Worldcoin for breaching the law in this regard. The Data Protection Commissioner will supervise the implementation of the order.

“High Court orders Worldcoin to delete biometric data collected in Kenya within 7 days.

The court ruled that constitutional rights must be upheld even in the digital age. It determined that the foundation's actions contravened the stated aim of promoting a digital society.

“The Court held that Worldcoin began collecting data without valid consent from the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) and without carrying out the required DPIA, in breach of Sections 25, 26, 29, 30, and 31 of the Data Protection Act, 2019.

This legal blow to the project comes nearly two years after the Katiba Institute launched the case in August 2023.

The organization, which promotes the implementation of Kenya’s Constitution, challenged Worldcoin’s data collection practices.

Constitutional lawyer Joshua Malidzo Nyawa, who spearheaded the prosecution, did not immediately respond to BeInCrypto’s request for comment.

Worldcoin Focused on Expanding Despite Legal Setbacks

The data collection process itself was the subject of heated debate.

To participate, Kenyans had to volunteer to scan their irises using the Orb device. In return, they received around $50 in WLD tokens.

However, the institute argued that this offer of cryptocurrency constituted an inducement, rendering the consent invalid. It also claimed that the data processing failed to meet Kenya’s legal thresholds for data protection.

The ruling is likely to have implications beyond Kenya. Similar concerns in Southeast Asia led to the project being suspended in Indonesia.

Local authorities reportedly halted Worldcoin’s activities over potential violations of data protection laws.

However, in the US, the project is continuing to expand. It recently launched in six cities, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

These legal developments had a swift impact on investor sentiment. Worldcoin’s native token (WLD) dropped nearly 10% in the past 24 hours.

According to BeInCrypto price data, WLD was trading at $0.88 as of this writing.