Hong Kong data protection authorities raided six offices of the cryptocurrency Worldcoin (31) this Wednesday. According to the official statement, the agency is concerned about the company’s activities that could pose “serious risks to data privacy.”
Founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Worldcoin has been causing controversy since its launch. Basically, the project scans people’s eyes, stores this data and distributes the cryptocurrency in return. Some household names like Edward Snowden have already advised people not to catalog their eyeballs.
Controversy aside, the project aims to be an authentication system to distinguish humans from artificial intelligence. Some giants such as Microsoft, Telegram and Mercado Livre have already become partners in the initiative.
Hong Kong authorities raid Worldcoin’s offices
The operation against Worldcoin was carried out this Wednesday in the cities of Yau Ma Tei, Kwun Tong, Wan Chai, Cyperport, Central and Causeway Bay, all in Hong Kong (31).
“The public should carefully protect their sensitive personal data and avoid engaging in activities that indiscriminately collect sensitive personal data, such as iris scanning.”said Ada Chung Lai-ling, Hong Kong Data Protection Commissioner.
“Iris information is a kind of biometric data. In general, biometric data is unique and cannot be changed and can be considered sensitive personal data.”


Then the statement informs some points attributed to the Worldcoin office magazine, these are:
- The legitimacy for collecting biometric data;
- The scope and purpose of collecting biometric data;
- The intended use of this data and the classes of people or organizations to which the data will be disclosed or transferred;
- The period of retention of biometric data; It is
- Security measures taken to protect biometric data.
Worldcoin’s problems are not exclusive to Hong Kong. Last year, British authorities also investigated the project. The same thing happened in Argentina after a large adoption by the local population. Kenya later banned Worldcoin from its country and suspended all operations.
Cryptocurrency Worldcoin (WLD) is at an all-time low after offices in Hong Kong were robbed
According to Worldcoin’s own website, more than 3.2 million people have already had their retinas scanned in exchange for the WLD cryptocurrency. This number is still far from the 7.8 billion people in the world, but is still significant due to all the controversies.
The cryptocurrency Worldcoin (WLD) has fallen 8.5% in the past 24 hours after authorities in Hong Kong raided its offices. However, several other cryptocurrencies have fallen in value this Wednesday (31), which could distort the impact of the investigations.


Regardless, WLD is far from a failure. Relative to its launch price, the cryptocurrency has already increased in value by 41.7% in July last year, yielding more than several other assets during the same period.
Source: Live Coins

Barry Siefert is an accomplished journalist and author at The Nation View. He is known for his expertise in the field of cryptocurrency, and has written extensively on the topic. With a background in finance and economics, Barry has a deep understanding of the underlying technology and market forces that drive the crypto industry.