📣 South Korea Fines Worldcoin $829,000
posted 26 Sept 2024
South Korea’s regulator fined Tools For Humanity and the Worldcoin Foundation, the entities behind the famous iris scanning solution, $829,000 for violating personal data protection laws. Officials have also provided recommendations for improving the product in terms of regulatory compliance.
The investigation into Worldcoin has been ongoing for over six months. According to the regulator, more than 30,000 South Korean citizens had their irises scanned in exchange for cryptocurrency rewards, yet the project failed to properly inform users about the purposes and storage periods of their personal data.
The company also neglected to disclose contact information of the organization handling the scans, clarify the data transfers to foreign servers, and set up an adequate account deletion procedure or age verification system to prevent users under 14 years old from participating.
Despite the regulator’s strict measures, the price of WLD remained largely unaffected, continuing to rise. Since September 17, Worldcoin has increased by more than 50%, reaching $2.15. Previously, the project had to suspend iris scanning in several countries, including Spain and Germany.