Worldcoin revises data collection methods in Chile after pushback

Worldcoin’s head of communication and marketing in Latin America, Astrid Vasconcellos, told Chileans that criticism had forced the company to make data collection changes. She insisted that security and privacy were fundamental pillars of the Worldcoin project.

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Vasconcellos affirmed that the operators of Worldcoin, Tools for Humanity, were not cross-referencing iris scans with personal information. She claimed that the company had found effective ways to verify the ages of Chileans visiting Orb operator centers. Worldcoin also confirmed the successful scanning of over “1% of the Chilean population.”

Worldcoin to exclude minors from scanning

In an interview with CNN Chile, Moises Sánchez, the executive director of the Kamanau Foundation, accused Worldcoin of breaching the Neuro-Rights Law in a lawsuit filed at the Court of Appeals of Valparaíso. Sánchez clarified that there was no ‘informed consent’ when dealing with minors. He expressed his concerns about Worldcoin’s collection of biometric scans from minors without their parents’ or guardians’ approval. 

“We are filing an appeal so that the admissibility of the case may be resolved by the Supreme Court…The company must stop the capture of irises for money and establish safeguards to ensure that minors cannot participate in the platform.”

-Moisés Sánchez Kamanau Foundation

Notably, Sánchez said he had complete trust in the ability of Chilean courts to resolve this issue according to the law.

“Worldcoin no tiene salvaguardas para garantizar que los menores de edad no puedan participar”

Entrevista completa https://t.co/Sp4MACfDcS pic.twitter.com/uaIiZOsAAP

— Fundación Kamanau (@Kamanau_) April 2, 2024

Rodrigo Lagos, a Chilean lawyer, filed a similar case at the Court of Appeals of Santiago, where he accused the foundation of scanning minors into their system without parents’ consent. He disclosed that his 17-year-old daughter was one of the underage Chileans allowed to get an iris scan.

In response to CNN Chile, the Foundation said that it was keen on processing personal data within the regulatory frameworks of the countries where Worldcoin was available. The company explained that the Worldcoin project was designed to meet the highest international standards governing personal data processing.

Worldcoin formulates ‘guided’ path for Chile operations

While defending her company, Vasconcellos noted that the widespread pushback in Chile was ‘perhaps’ the foundation’s fault due to the project’s complexities. She pointed out that there was a lot of misinformation about the Worldcoin project, although its main objective was to identify ‘who is human and who is not.’ 

“Previously we did not verify the age of the people who use our centers. Now, before you enter a center, you have to present valid ID documents…It is not enough to take people’s word.”

-Vasconcellos  

The foundation further assured Chilean authorities that consumers would henceforth be informed how the company intended to use their personal data. Vasconcellos said this would help keep the foundation from further legal challenges in Chile. 

However, while the courts argued that no constitutional guarantees were violated by Worldcoin, Sánchez insisted that the company needed to explain its ‘unclear objectives’ by educating the Chilean population about all the twists and turns in the project.

Cryptopolitan reporting by Collins J. Okoth