Worldcoin CEO Grilled by Kenyan Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee

• Worldcoin CEO was grilled by a Kenyan parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee.
• The CEO refuted data mining and illegal operation allegations.
• The project asserted Kenya is one of its key markets.

Tools for Humanity Co-Founder and Worldcoin CEO Alex Blania appeared before a Kenyan parliamentary ad hoc committee on September 6 to respond to allegations of illegal operations and data mining in the country.

Blania’s grilling comes after the Kenyan government suspended the Worldcoin project in the country on August 2, which was also confirmed by Tools of Humanity Head of Legal Thomas Scott when he appeared before the same committee on September 6.

Data Privacy Concerns

Although Worldcoin first hit global headlines on July 24 following its official rollout, the committee was informed that the project had been providing proof of humanness verification in the country since 2021 and had more than 20 locations for its operations in the capital city.

Worldcoin stirred regulatory ire when it came to light that over 300,000 Kenyans had signed up and scanned their eyeballs with the project and that it wasn’t officially registered as a legal entity in the country.

Responding to these allegations, the CEO noted that the project had liaised with Kenya’s Office of the Data Commissioner since April 2022, where it was registered as a data controller and not a limited company.

“We wish to emphasize the Worldcoin project’s long-term commitment to Kenya. Our commitment to the people of Kenya is genuine, and we have at all times endeavored to operate honestly, compliantly, and above all, transparently. All the personal and biometric data collected in Kenya is securely stored on servers either in the US, Italy, Germany, Poland, or South Africa,” the CEO said.

Officials from Worldcoin reveal that they had been scanning irises in Kenya since 2021 during pilot testing.

Worldcoin's CEO, Alex Blania, defended free tokens as incentives, and the project has expanded to 34 countries with 2,279,884 sign-ups.

Nevertheless, it faces privacy… pic.twitter.com/Mtj9YQ0hP0

— Lawyers Hub Kenya (@lawyershubkenya) September 6, 2023

Kenya As a Strategic Hub

Worldcoin picked Kenya alongside Chile and Portugal for its pilot program, thanks to the country’s rising level of tech adoption and longstanding political and economic stability. According to the CEO, the country accounts for a quarter of Worldcoin users worldwide.  

Read why Kenyans are concerned about their health after undertaking Iiris scans with Worldcoin:
Worldcoin Slammed Again as Orbs Linked to Health Dangers

Read more about the genesis of Worldcoin:
How Worldcoin Wooed Investors to Inject $115M in an Ambitious Eye-Scanning Project