Worldcoin has been the subject of headlines, not just in Portugal, due to the security and privacy issues associated with its activity. Now, the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) has ordered the WorldCoin Foundation to suspend the collection of biometric data from users’ iris, eyes and face for at least 90 days.
According to a statement sent to the press, the CNPD decided to “suspend, in the national territory, the collection of biometric data on the iris, eyes and face carried out by the WorldCoin Foundation“, with “a view to safeguarding the fundamental right to data protection personal”, especially in the case of minors.
The “temporary limitation on the collection of biometric data” lasts for 90 days, so that the [CNPD] have time to “complete your investigation and issue a final decision”.
The adoption of this urgent provisional measure follows dozens of reports received by the CNPD in the last month, reporting the collection of data from minors without the authorization of their parents or other legal representatives, as well as deficiencies in the information provided to data subjects. , in the impossibility of deleting data or revoking consent, which made the need for action on the part of the CNPD imperative.
It is read in the statement, through which the president of the CNPD, Paula Meira Lourenço, justifies that “this order of temporary limitation of the collection of biometric data by the Worldcoin Foundation is, at this moment, an indispensable and justified measure to obtain the useful effect defending the public interest in safeguarding fundamental rights, especially those of minors”.
CNPD had already warned citizens about Worldcoin
According to the Portuguese entity, the “news coverage provided by the media” brought “to the attention of the CNPD that more than 300 thousand people in Portugal had already provided their biometric data”.
In fact, at the beginning of the month, the CNPD had already advised citizens to think carefully before handing over this data.
Worldcoin began months ago, in several countries, to take digital images of the irises of people who voluntarily submitted to this registration in exchange for compensation in cryptocurrencies equivalent to around 70 euros.
As revealed by the CNPD, data collection locations using the “Orb” device, located in large commercial areas, almost doubled in six months.
Biometric data “is qualified as special data in the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)” and therefore enjoys “added protection”. Therefore, the CNPD “understood that the risk to the fundamental rights of citizens is high”, requiring “urgent intervention to prevent serious or irreparable damage”.
Although, in Portugal, the suspension is temporary, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) ordered the suspension of Worldcoin's activity at the beginning of the month.
