Cybersecurity Policy Report, Italy Suspends Worldcoin’s Orb Collection of Iris Scans, (Apr 3, 2024)
The Italian data protection authority, Garante, has issued a warning to Worldcoin Foundation concerning its project to verify the identity of users based on iris scanning, stating that it would in all likelihood, violate European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and could result in sanctions.
The warning to the Worldcoin Foundation concerns its support for the Worldcoin project that aims to create an identity and financial network using the “Orb,” a biometric device that scans the face and iris, creating a unique identification code worldwide for each individual called “World ID.” Despite the Orb devices not yet being functional in Italy, Garante noted that citizens could already download the World App, provide their personal data, and reserve free cryptocurrency tokens. The Orb, World ID, and World App collectively make up the Worldcoin ecosystem.
After receiving information from the company and based on additional information available on the Worldcoin website, Garante believes that the processing of “biometric data based on the consent of the participants in the project, issued on the basis of insufficient information, cannot be considered a valid legal basis according to the requirements required by the European Regulation.”
Garante also noted that the promise of receiving WLD tokens “negatively affects the possibility of expressing free and unconditional consent to the biometric data processing carried out through the Orbs,” and those risks are amplified by the absence of filters to prevent access to the Orbs and World App by minors.
Garante’s warning follows an announcement in March by the Portuguese data protection authority, in which it ordered the Worldcoin Foundation to temporarily limit the collection of biometric information while it investigates the legality of its practices. Spain adopted a similar suspension.
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