{"id":70426,"date":"2024-01-31T12:34:52","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T16:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/?p=70426"},"modified":"2024-01-31T12:34:54","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T16:34:54","slug":"hong-kong-authorities-investigate-worldcoin-for-privacy-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/hong-kong-authorities-investigate-worldcoin-for-privacy-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong Authorities Investigate Worldcoin For Privacy Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PCPD: Any personal information under Worldcoin's control, <\/a>including that derived from iris images, “must be collected for a lawful purpose.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hong
Hong Kong Authorities Investigate Worldcoin For Privacy Concerns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD)\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/g>\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/clipPath>\r\n <\/defs><\/svg><\/span><\/a> of Hong Kong has declared an inquiry into the local operations of the identity verification project Worldcoin, citing “serious risks to personal data privacy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six Worldcoin-controlled premises in Hong Kong were entered, and warrants were executed, the PCPD stated in a notice dated January 31 as part of an investigation into the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission issued a request for documents and information while also cautioning Hong Kong residents about the potential uses of their biometric data. For instance, Worldcoin verifies users' identities using iris-scanning devices. The PCPD also stated that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe PCPD is concerned that the operation of Worldcoin in Hong Kong involves serious risks to personal data privacy, and believes that the collection and processing of sensitive personal data by the relevant organisation may be in contravention of the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance,\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PCPD officials entering Worldcoin premises in Hong Kong. Source:\u00a0PCPD<\/use><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Personal information under the jurisdiction of Worldcoin \u201cmust be collected for a lawful purpose\u201d\u00a0 that is directly related to the project's function or activity, as mandated by the PCPD. According to regulatory guidelines, the information obtained from users' iris was deemed “sensitive” by the commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its inception in 2021, Worldcoin has garnered over two million registrations in anticipation of its official debut in July 2023. Privacy concerns have prompted numerous regulatory bodies in various nations to scrutinize the project, resulting in the cessation of its operations in Kenya and a halt to retinal scans in India.<\/use><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of December 2023, more than five million individuals have created accounts using their identities, according to Worldcoin. Worldcoin was not responsive to a request for comment from reporters, as of the time this article was published.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PCPD: Any personal information under Worldcoin’s control, including that derived from iris images, “must be collected for a lawful purpose.” The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) of Hong Kong has declared an inquiry into the local operations of the identity verification project Worldcoin, citing “serious risks to personal data privacy.” Six […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":55074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[6251,18170,5785,15424],"class_list":["post-70426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-hong-kong-2","tag-pcpd","tag-regulations-2","tag-worldcoin-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/coin.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}