What will occur now with the information of the 400,000 Spaniards whose irises had been scanned by Worldcoin? | EUROtoday

What data does the iris include and, above all, what may be accomplished with it? That is the good unknown that for days has surrounded the furor unleashed by the agencyWorldcoin in a number of Spanish cities and that’s the nice unknown that appears to have moved the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) to ban it from persevering with its exercise. At least, cautiously and quickly.

The group introduced yesterday its resolution to stop Tools for Humanity Corporation – liable for Worldcoin – from persevering with to x-ray the irises of residents in Spain, because it had been doing in latest weeks. The company additionally prohibits the agency from utilizing the data that it has gathered in its possession throughout this time, and it isn’t small, as a result of nearly 400,000 individuals have visited one of many factors put in by the corporate to hold out their work, as acknowledged yesterday Spanish Sea, president of the company, in an look earlier than the media. So that knowledge is, for now, locked and guarded.

“The AEPD has ordered a precautionary measure against Tools for Humanity Corporation [responsable de Worldcoin] to cease the collection and processing of personal data that it is carrying out in Spain within the framework of its Worldcoin project, and to proceed to block those already collected,” says the company. The company thus intends to “avoid potentially irreparable damage” and justifies its place that not taking them would deprive individuals of the safety to which they’re entitled.

This is the primary time that the AEPD adopts a precautionary measure of those traits -before concluding an investigation and resolving a file-, in line with its high official, who additionally defined that the measure may be prolonged for 3 months and develop into, after that interval, in “permanente“. The group itself acknowledges that this motion is carried out beneath the legislation and in response to “exceptional circumstances” to “protect the rights and freedoms” of the affected individuals.

“The processing of biometric data, considered in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as having special protection, entails high risks for people's rights, taking into account their sensitive nature,” explains the AEPD. The company believes that it’s “necessary to adopt provisional measures” aimed on the fast cessation of this processing of non-public knowledge, stopping its attainable switch to 3rd events and safeguarding the basic proper to the safety of mentioned knowledge.

The company's intervention is predicated on complaints acquired in latest days in opposition to Worldcoin during which, in line with its model, inadequate data is reported, the gathering of knowledge from minors or that withdrawal of consent shouldn’t be allowed.

Worldcoin supplied financial compensation – within the type of cryptocurrencies – in alternate for iris scanning to individuals who needed to acquire digital currencies. Thousands of individuals responded to his name, attracted by the proposal and ignoring warnings in regards to the implications it may have for his or her private knowledge.

“From today” [por ayer], any exercise of this firm geared toward capturing private knowledge in Spain is “illegal,” Mar España acknowledged in a media look reported by Efe. Those liable for the Agency who appeared along with her warned that the corporate faces sanctions that might attain 20 million euros for those who proceed accumulating knowledge.

The firm's response was fast. “World ID was created to give people access, privacy and protection online. It is the most privacy-preserving and secure solution for confirming that someone is human in the age of AI and we are always willing to engage with regulators , examine your comments and respond to your responses”, Jannick Preiwisch, Data Protection Officer of the agency, in statements to which EL MUNDO has had entry. “Our efforts to engage with the AEPD and provide them with an accurate picture of Worldcoin and World ID have been ignored for months. We are grateful to now have the opportunity to help them better understand,” she provides.