Worldcoin will keep iris scanning activity suspended in Portugal At the end of this year, voluntarily extending the decision decreed by the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) in March. The CNPD suspended the collection of iris and facial biometric data carried out by the Worldcoin Foundation for 90 days, with the aim of safeguarding the right to protection of personal data, especially of minors.
Data Protection Commission suspends Worldcoin’s collection of iris data
“At this time, we have made the decision to discontinue operations in Portugal to give the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) time to better analyze our technology,” explains Thomas Scott, legal director of Tools for Humanity, in a statement ( TFH). the entity that controls the Worldcoin project. This decision by the company is made when there are just a few days left until the 90-day suspension imposed by the CNPD ends.
The head of TFH states that the company is “Confident that once the process is complete,” will be able to “fully implement” the technology “across the country”, considering that “there is a clear demand for solutions like Worldcoin that can make the Internet more secure and with greater privacy.” The company mentions that it conducted a survey earlier this month, with more than 19,300 World ID users in Portugal, in which 90% of respondents said they supported the return of activities in the country.
Worldcoin explains that it has already communicated to the CNPD this intention to maintain the activity suspended until the end of 2024 or until Bay LDA, the Bavarian data protection authority responsible for supervising the company’s activity in Europe, make a final decision on the European operation.
The CNPD decided to suspend the activity of Worldcoin after receiving complaints “almost daily” about the company’s activity, between February 18 and March 15, “with special emphasis on those related to the collection of personal data of minors” . In response to the Observer, the regulator said at the time that 50 complaints were referenced in the deliberation supporting the suspension. Since then, the CNPD analyzes Worldcoin activity in Portugal.
Regulator concerned about minors’ data. Worldcoin assumes you only ask for age verification verbally and in the app
This announcement linked to activity in Portugal follows the steps taken by Worldcoin in Spain. The iris collection activity was suspended at the beginning of March and, at the end of May, days before the deadline, the company informed the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) and the intention to maintain the suspension until the end of 2024 and availability for collaboration.
Spain suspends the activity of Worldcoin, the company that scans the iris in exchange for cryptocurrencies
The Spanish newspaper The country He specified that Alex Blania, president of Tools for Humanity, communicated the decision to the AEPD on May 28. The newspaper had access to the letter addressed to Mar España, director of the Spanish entity, in which it promised “not to collect or otherwise process any personal data through Orb’s records in Spain until the end of 2024, or before.” , until there is a final decision.” decision.”
The availability of cooperation contrasts with the first comments the company made when activity in Spain was suspended. At the time, a Worldcoin spokesperson accused the Spanish data protection authority of “avoiding European Union legislation with its actions today.” [a suspensão]that are limited to Spain and not to the EU in general, and spread inaccurate and misleading information about our technology worldwide,” cited the The country. The company also noted that “efforts to collaborate with the AEPD and provide an accurate view of Worldcoin and World ID [a criptomoeda que é atribuída] remained unanswered for months.”
Worldcoin now checks ages in person and allows you to delete your iris code
Source: Observadora
