[NEWS] Kenyan parliament launches WorldCoin (WLD) investigative committee over concerns over iris data collection

The Kenyan parliament has set up a committee to investigate the activities of the cryptocurrency WorldCoin (WLD), local media outlet THE STAR reported on the 21st.

According to the report, the 15-member committee will be chaired by Gabriel Tongoyo, MP for Narok West.

Other members will be selected from the divisional committees for Administration and Internal Security, Communications and Innovation, Tourism and Wildlife.

Speaker of Parliament Moses Wetangula said the committee will investigate and report back to the House within 42 days.

The formation of the committee comes at a time when Home Affairs Minister Kindiki Kithure and ICT Commissioner Eliud Owalo are expected to appear in parliament for the second time on the WLD issue.

At the first meeting, Kisle reiterated to the MPs that the government had suspended WorldCoin-related activities by Kenyans or entities that may have ties to them. He also noted that the Kenyan government has concerns about WorldCoin's collection of iris data.

Kisle also revealed that the relevant security, financial services and protection agencies have launched an investigation to establish the reliability and legality of WorldCoin's activities. At the same time, the court also suspended the company's activities until the decision on the lawsuit filed by the Data Commissioner's Office is reached.

WorldCoin is a project co-founded by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. The vision of the project is to realize basic income.

WorldCoin uses a device called "Orb" to read the iris of the eye and generate an ID called "World ID". This makes it possible to verify the identity of the person from the iris.

By generating this ID, it is currently possible to receive WorldCoin free of charge. It has been attracting attention since it was listed on various overseas cryptocurrency (virtual currency) exchanges last month. According to WorldCoin, as of last month, they had already obtained the data of over 2 million users.

While the cryptocurrency is gaining more attention day by day, there are also voices of doubt regarding security and privacy due to some unclear points, and it is actually the subject of investigations in several countries, including Nigeria and the UK.

Source:Reports
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