The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) has forced the company Worldcoin to suspend its activity in Spain as a precautionary measure and has prohibited it from continuing to scan the iris of thousands of people and collect personal data in this way.
The company started scanning the irises of volunteers in several parts of the world for financial compensation – cryptocurrencies – a few months ago, arguing that all the information collected is anonymous and users remain in control of their data at all times.
The AEPD, which confirmed on February 20 that it is investigating four complaints about these activities, has decided, as a precautionary measure, to prohibit the company from continuing this practice, the director of the authority, Mar España, reported on Wednesday at a press conference in Madrid.
The head of the authority that ensures adequate data protection in Spain has appeared in front of the media to report on the details of this decision, which has already been communicated to the German-based company in charge of Worldcoin, Tools for Humanity Corporation.
Since Wednesday, any activity of this company aimed at collecting personal data in Spain is “illegal”, Mar España has claimed. Officials who appeared have warned that the company could face fines of up to €20 million if it continues to collect data.
This is the first time that the Spanish Data Protection Agency has taken a precautionary measure of this kind – before concluding an investigation and resolving a file – said Mar España, explaining that the measure can be extended for three months and will become “permanent” after this period.
The agency’s order includes an instruction to the company to “block” all personal data it has been able to obtain so far from the nearly 400,000 people who have made themselves available to it. Mar España recalled that they began to investigate the activities of this company when they received several complaints in which they denounced, among other things, that users received insufficient information because data was collected from minors or because the withdrawal of the initial consent was not allowed.
According to the General Data Protection Regulation, the processing of biometric data – such as those obtained from reading iris – is considered to be particularly worthy of protection, as it entails high risks for the individual due to the sensitivity of this information.
Mar España has defended the necessity “and proportionality” of this precautionary measure to ensure the immediate cessation of the activity of this company and the processing of personal data, to prevent its possible disclosure to third parties and to respect the fundamental right to the protection of personal data.
The company Tools For Humanity Corporation – promoted by Sam Altman, the director of the artificial intelligence system ChatGPT developed by the US company OpenAI – has its European headquarters in Germany, but the Spanish agency can intervene in exceptional circumstances and take provisional measures such as this one with legal implications on its territory.
Failure to take these precautions “would deprive people of the protection to which they are entitled,” warned the agency, which stressed the importance of this ban to avoid “potentially irreparable” harm.
However, the director of the Spanish Data Protection Agency has insisted on sending a message of “calm” to the people who participated in this activity, since in the next few months the agency will ensure that their data is blocked and cannot be used or transferred.
And he has personalized the message to young people and minors so that they know that 70 euros “can get you through the weekend”, but there are numerous risks in revealing personal data, and even more so if they are biometric.
Mar España has warned young people that in the future this data may be used to impersonate a person, to make decisions related to health (whether or not to opt for health insurance) and so that they are aware that the transmission of this type of data, even if it may seem free and harmless, “can influence their future”.
[newsletter_form lists="1"]
