Worldcoin ordered to halt biometric data collection in Portugal: report

Worldcoin WLD +9.28% has encountered another setback in Europe as the "proof of personhood" project tries to grow the number of people who sign up by having their eyeballs scanned to prove they are human.

A Portugal data regulator has ordered Worldcoin to halt its collection of personal data for 90 days, according to a report from Reuters. The project, closely tied to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, was also banned last month for up to three months in Spain.

"Portugal's data regulator, the CNPD, said there was a high risk to citizens' data protection rights, which justified urgent intervention to prevent serious harm," according to the report. "More than 300,000 people in Portugal have provided Worldcoin with their biometric data," the CNPD said.

Tools for Humanity, the lead software contributor behind the Worldcoin project, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Worldcoin trying to address privacy concerns

In an effort to augment users' control over their personal data, Worldcoin recently rolled out "Personal Custody," a new process that eliminates the storing and encryption of people's biometric data. Previously, users could opt to let Worldcoin store their personal data.

"Even though everything was deleted by default before, definitely now the fact that users have control over what to do with their data, definitely does give you that peace of mind, not needing to trust anyone," Tools for Humanity executive Tiago Sada said last week.

When people have their eyeballs scanned by Worldcoin, they establish a World ID and receive cryptocurrency, WLD tokens. Worldcoin has signed up more than 4.5 million people in 120 countries, according to its website.