{"id":14561,"date":"2024-03-07T12:39:55","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T12:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1404636"},"modified":"2024-03-07T12:39:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T12:39:55","slug":"spain-halts-sam-altmans-eyeball-scanning-startup-worldcoin-over-privacy-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=14561","title":{"rendered":"Spain halts Sam Altman\u2019s eyeball-scanning startup Worldcoin over privacy concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Spanish regulators have ordered Worldcoin to pause operations over fears that the company\u2019s eyeball-scanning technology may intrude on users\u2019 privacy.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Worldcoin \u2014 co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in 2019 \u2014  uses orbs to scan people\u2019s eyes in exchange for a digital ID and some cryptocurrency<\/a>.  <\/span><\/p>\n

According to the order issued by Spain\u2019s privacy watchdog yesterday, Worldcoin must stop collecting and processing personal data in the country. It must also stop processing any data it previously collected there.<\/span><\/p>\n

The agency said in a <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a> that it had received various complaints against the company that range from gathering the personal information of minors to not allowing people to withdraw their consent.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Spanish authority is using \u201curgency procedure\u201d powers contained in the EU\u2019s GDPR for the temporary data processing cessation order \u2014 which means it can have a maximum duration of three months. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe AEPD is circumventing EU law with their actions today, which are limited to Spain and not the broader EU, and spreading inaccurate and misleading claims about our technology globally,\u201d Jannick Preiwisch, data protection officer at Worldcoin, told the <\/span>Financial Times<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur efforts to engage with the AEPD and provide them with an accurate view of Worldcoin and World ID have gone unanswered for months,\u201d he added.  <\/span><\/p>\n

While this marks the first time a European country has moved against Worldcoin, the company has had its fair share of controversy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, Kenya <\/span>ordered<\/span><\/a> the project to shut down until more stringent regulations were put in place. Meanwhile, Worldcoin is currently under investigation in the UK, France, and Germany. <\/span><\/p>\n

Altman and his co-founder Alex Blania launched Worldcoin to provide users with a \u201cWorld ID.\u201d This digital identity, based on a scan of a human iris, is intended to act as a \u201cproof of personhood\u201d in a digital landscape rife with scams, bots, and even AI imposters. <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the \u201cdigital passport\u201d label, World ID is not intended to reveal or verify a user\u2019s identity. It merely establishes the user as \u201ca unique and real person\u201d, rather than a bot.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, privacy experts are <\/span>concerned<\/span><\/a> about Worldcoin\u2019s collection of biometric data and how, exactly, the project will keep and protect that data. <\/span><\/p>\n

Worldcoin currently operates at 29 locations in Spain, and has <\/span>reportedly<\/span><\/a> registered 4 million users across 120 countries since hitting the market in July 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spanish regulators have ordered Worldcoin to pause operations over fears that the company\u2019s eyeball-scanning technology may intrude on users\u2019 privacy.   Worldcoin \u2014 co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in 2019 \u2014  uses…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14561"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}