Worldcoin Regulatory Scrutiny Grows as Argentina Opens Investigation

The Argentine Agency for Access to Public Information (AAIP) has initiated an investigation targeting Worldcoin to ascertain the legality of its data collection practices within the South American country, the agency said on Tuesday.

The AAIP outlined its objective of scrutinizing the security protocols in place to safeguard the privacy of Worldcoin users in Argentina.

The agency stated that the case has gained “public notoriety in recent weeks due to the procedure of scanning the faces and irises of numerous individuals in exchange for financial compensation at different locations in Buenos Aires City and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, and Río Negro.”

According to the AAIP, an entity like Worldcoin must register with the AAIP, provide information about its data processing policy, and indicate the purpose for collecting sensitive data and the retention period for such data. Additionally, the agency requires details of the security and confidentiality measures applied to safeguard personal information. The AAIP did not confirm whether Worldcoin complies with the standards.

Worldcoin told CoinDesk in an emailed statement that “the project complies with all laws and regulations governing the processing of personal data in the markets where Worldcoin is available, including but not limited to Argentina's Personal Data Protection Act 25.326.”

Worldcoin has recently come under the scrutiny of various governments. Last week, Kenya's Ministry of the Interior suspended the operations of Worldcoin, and later, the Kenyan police raided the Nairobi warehouse of Worldcoin on Saturday, confiscating documents and machines.

Read more: I Had My Iris Scanned by the Worldcoin Orb, and It Wasn't as Scary as I Expected

UPDATE (Aug. 8, 20:34 UTC): Adds comment from Worldcoin.