Worldcoin Deletes Kenyan Biometrics After High Court Order
Worldcoin said it has complied with a Kenyan High Court order and removed all biometric records collected from Kenyan citizens, a rare enforcement action against the project's iris-scanning identity system. The initiative, co-founded by Sam Altman, faced litigation alleging insufficient consent, data-protection failures and national-security risks; the court ordered deletion, an audit and related remedies after finding the collection unlawful.
The ruling and Worldcoin's compliance represent a significant regulatory setback for identity-focused crypto projects and underscore rising global scrutiny of biometric data practices. For users, the deletion addresses immediate privacy concerns but leaves open questions about data sharing and access to services tied to the system. For the wider crypto industry and the WLD token, the decision raises legal and operational risks that other jurisdictions and courts may now cite when reviewing similar identity initiatives.