The Spanish Data Protection Agency [AEPD] has temporarily halted Worldcoin’s collection and processing of personal data in the nation. The decision comes after receiving several complaints against this project, such as insufficient information, data collection involving minors, and irrevocable consent, among other infringements, per the blog post.
AEPD’s latest crackdown is conducted under Article 66.1 of the GDPR, which requires it to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals. This provision authorizes AEPD to implement provisional legal measures within its territory that come with a validity period not exceeding three months.
The processing of biometric data, under the General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] merits special protection. Consequently, this precautionary measure is a decision based on exceptional circumstances in which it is necessary and proportionate to adopt provisional measures aimed at the immediate cessation of such processing of personal data, preventing its possible transfer to third parties, and safeguarding the fundamental right to the protection of personal data.
In response to the ban, Worldcoin asserted that it operates lawfully in all of the locations and accused the Spanish regulator of evading established procedures under GDPR. The rebuttal post stated, “It is also unfortunate that they are spreading inaccurate and misleading claims about our technology globally after our efforts to provide them with an accurate view of Worldcoin and World ID have gone unanswered for months.”
Worldcoin: GDPR, Bans, and Sora’s Impact
The General Data Protection Regulation is a privacy framework that entered into force on May 25, 2018, in all 28 European Union member states. The GDPR’s main goal is to enable seamless handling of cross-border data protection cases by incorporating certain administrative procedures and elaborating existing rules on cooperation between EU supervisory authorities.
Worldcoin, created by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, offers free crypto tokens to people in exchange for having their eyeballs scanned. The project earned extreme scrutiny from regulators around the world. In Aug, the Kenyan government banned the cryptocurrency project from signing up new users, citing data privacy concerns.
Worldcoin again grabbed the limelight after a staggering 400% YTD, thanks to OpenAI’s new launch, Sora. The latest AI model can generate a 1-minute video with just text prompts and is reportedly garnering rave reviews across social media circles. Worldcoin’s native token, WLD, is up by 5% in the last 24 hours to trade at $7.37.