Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has filed a lawsuit against the Spanish data protection regulator AEPD after its operations in Spain were banned. In a statement on Friday, the company argued that AEPD “broke EU law” and “spread false and misleading claims about its technologies.”
Worldcoin aims to establish a global identity system and offers free cryptocurrency and digital identity to individuals who agree to have their irises scanned. However, AEPD ordered Worldcoin to stop collecting personal information and stop using the data it had already collected.
Tools for Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, filed a lawsuit against AEPD's decision, claiming that AEPD had broken “accepted EU process and rules” and “procedures established under the GDPR (European Union General Data Protection Regulation)”. The case, which aims to suspend the AEPD's decision, was submitted to the Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court of Spain.
In response to the ban, Worldcoin has stopped all “World ID verification services” in Spain. These services include registration areas where people's irises can be scanned by Worldcoin's devices called “orbs”.
According to Worldcoin's website, more than 4 million people in 120 countries have signed up to have their irises scanned. Despite this, the project has faced criticism from privacy campaigners from Argentina to Germany over its collection, storage and use of personal data.
AEPD's action against Worldcoin follows complaints about insufficient information, collection of data from minors and failure to withdraw consent.
*This is not investment advice.