A team of Kenyan police officers is reported to have raided the premises used by Worldcoin and seized devices storing users’ data. The raid came just days after the Kenyan government announced the suspension of Worldcoin’s activities in the country.
Officers Armed With Search Warrant
The Kenyan police recently raided a building housing cryptocurrency and biometric ID project Worldcoin, and reportedly took away devices used for storing data. According to a local report, the law enforcement agents were not only armed with a search warrant but had the backing of so-called multi-agency officials.
The raid on Worldcoin’s Kenyan offices came barely a week after the government suspended the cryptocurrency project on grounds that it posed a threat to public safety. Before that, Kenya’s data regulating agency had sounded the alarm over Worldcoin’s activities in the East African country.
However, following the move by the Kenyan government, Tools for Humanity (TFH)’s Alex Blania said in a tweet that his organization would use the pause in Worldcoin’s activities to address regulators’ concerns. Yet, as stated in a report published by Kahawa Tungu, Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait is adamant that Worldcoin did not adequately explain its intentions during its registration process, hence the raid.
Eliud Owalo: At the point of registration, Worldcoin had met all the requisite requirements for registration purposes. What Kenyans need to understand is that there is a difference between registration and operationalization #MondayReport @TrevorOmbija pic.twitter.com/bUxOEc7C0d
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) August 7, 2023
User Data ‘Will Not Be Infringed’
Meanwhile, Eliud Owalo, the Kenyan ICT minister who has defended Worldcoin’s activities in the past, suggested in an interview with Citizen TV Kenya that TFH may not have been adhering to the requirements of its registration license. When asked about the fate of the data collected from over 350,000 Kenyans who had their irises scanned by Worldcoin’s “Orb,” Owalo said the Office of the Data Commissioner “has ensured that that data will not be infringed.”
Reacting to news of the raid, Erik Voorhees, the founder of crypto exchange platform Shapeshift, lamented how the seizure of Worldcoin’s data storage devices has resulted in the transfer of users’ personal data to politicians.
“Just like that, all the private data (which can never be revoked) is in the hands of politicians. And also whichever regime comes into power next. Of course, raiding the orbs isn’t even necessary. Governments of any country can just demand it all with a strongly worded letter,” Voorhees said in a tweet.
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