Worldcoin

<p>On Thursday, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Committee (PIPC) launched <a href="https://www.pipc.go.kr/np/cop/bbs/selectBoardArticle.do?bbsId&#61;BS074&amp;mCode&#61;C020010000&amp;nttId&#61;9963#LINK" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">an investigation</a> into Worldcoin’s personal data collection, processing and potential overseas transfer of sensitive personal data, the PIPC announced today via its official website. This comes after a number of complaints were filed against Worldcoin for its data collection practices.</p><p>Sam Altman’s crypto project Worldcoin gathers people’s personal data who signed up to have their irises scanned by “orbs” devices, which are currently installed in about 10 locations in Korea, including Yeouido, Pangyo and Apgujeong. The project started with the aim of distributing universal basic income to people whose jobs will be potentially replaced by artificial general intelligence (AGI) in the future.</p><p>The PIPC said the regulators will examine if any local privacy law has been violated by Worldcoin, and take further action in line with the Personal Information Protection Act. Following the launch of the investigation on Feb. 29, Worldcoin has withdrawn six orbs devices in Korea and stopped accepting new members. It has also suspended the distribution of the Worldcoin token (WLD) to members who have already signed up, media outlet Chosun Biz <a href="https://it.chosun.com/news/articleView.html?idxno&#61;2023092111275" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reported</a>.</p><h3 id="free-crypto-tokens-in-exchange-for-personal-data">Free crypto tokens in exchange for personal data</h3><p>For individuals who have their irises scanned, Worldcoin rewards three WLD tokens every two weeks, which are worth approximately $22.5 (KRW 30,000) at the time of writing. The price of WLD has soared by nearly ten-fold from about KRW 1,300 last year to over KRW 13,000 today, according to the data from the local crypto exchange Bithumb. This price surge followed OpenAI’s launch of a text-to-video AI tool, Sora. The current circulating supply of WLD stands at around 100 million tokens. According to Worldcoin’s white paper, the WLD’s total supply cap will remain fixed at 10 billion tokens during the first 15 years following its launch.</p><p>The data collected from the eyeball scanning is shared on the Worldcoin blockchain, which is protected by the zero-knowledge proof technology that prevents the data from being tracked or shared with other applications. The personal data remaining in the orbs devices is deleted.</p><h3 id="ongoing-overseas-investigation-on-worldcoin">Ongoing overseas investigation on Worldcoin</h3><p>South Korea is not the only country that is examining Worldcoin’s personal data collection practices. The project’s processing of information has raised concerns in other jurisdictions as well, including the U.K., France, Argentina and Kenya. In the U.S., the issuance of WLD tokens has been banned by the country’s authority.</p>

South Korea investigates Worldcoin for its personal data collection

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