Gov’t Suspends Worldcoin Licence In Kenya
The government has canceled the license issued to Tools for Humanity, the Germany-based global Hardware and Software Company, the entity for which Worldcoin mined data from thousands of Kenyans.
The Parliamentary Ad Hoc committee investigating activities of the tech company on Wednesday grilled Worldcoin Chief Executive Officer Alex Blania who maintained that his firm is not in any way involved in mining data but authenticating that its users are humans.
The CEO was at pains to explain Worldcoin’s real motive in Kenya, considering that they are not directly licensed to operate by the Office of the Data Commissioner.
“Yes, it is true that we are not registered in Kenya because the website of the data protection is not clear on data controlling companies and yes we can confirm that we are not seeking to harvest data from Kenyans. We are building something to protect privacy,” said Blania.
Blania added that they have been in touch with the Data Commission Office since April last year and that the parent company Tools for Humanity were duly registered as a data controller in the country. Within that period the company managed to reach more than half a million Kenyans.
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“635,000 Kenyans have downloaded the app out of this 301,000 have been registered and verified their details. 195,000 are yet to be scanned meaning a total of 5 million coins are in abeyance,” said the CEO.
At the same time, the company has defended itself against claims that it coerced Kenyans to have their iris scanned by paying them Ksh.7,500. The company said the amount was an incentive to set them rolling in the online community.
“For example, Safaricom gives their clients Ksh.50 worth of airtime when they buy their lines. Does this mean that they are being coerced?” Lawyer Scott posed.
According to Worldcoin, their mobile application is self-explanatory and it has steps that guide the user including where they give consent on usage. The company defended its choice for Kenya citing the country’s top level of technological advancement compared to other East African countries.
The CEO also revealed that they have been in partnership with various institutions and organisations in Kenya including Strathmore University and that it has been conducting iris scans in Kenya since 2021.
The Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait is expected before the commission on Thursday.
Gov’t Suspends Worldcoin Licence In Kenya