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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Dan Milmo Global technology editor

UNBELIEVABLE: Kenya halts worldcoin data collection over privacy and security concerns | History Defined

Worldcoin logo on a smartphone
Local media have reported that more than 350,000 Kenyans had signed up for Worldcoin by this week. Photograph: Mateusz Słodkowski/Sopa Images/Shutterstock

The Kenyan government has barred the eyeball-scanning Worldcoin cryptocurrency project from recruiting new customers as it investigates data privacy and security concerns.

Kenya’s interior ministry said the venture must stop collecting user data after raising a number of issues including: concerns over the secure storage of data that includes scans of a user’s iris; that offering crypto in exchange for data “borders on inducement”; inadequate information on cybersecurity safeguards; and placing large amounts of private data in the hands of a private business.

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