German regulator orders Worldcoin to delete data in compliance

The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (BayLDA) has instructed Worldcoin (CRYPTO:WLD), now known as World, to delete non-compliant biometric data following an investigation into its adherence to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

On December 19, BayLDA announced that its probe revealed Worldcoin’s failure to fully comply with GDPR rules, particularly regarding the collection and processing of biometric data, such as iris scans.

As a result, the regulator ordered the company to establish a compliant data deletion process within one month of the ruling.

Worldcoin responded by appealing the decision, seeking judicial clarity on whether their Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) align with the EU’s legal definition of anonymisation.

In May 2024, Worldcoin had already shut down its previous biometric system and deleted all stored data in an effort to meet the regulations.

However, the BayLDA ruling mandates further changes, including obtaining explicit consent for data processing in the future.

Additionally, the company must delete iris scan data that was collected without sufficient legal grounds, especially during the project’s early stages in the summer of 2023.

“With today’s decision, we are enforcing European fundamental rights standards in favor of the data subjects in a technologically demanding and legally highly complex case,” BayLDA president Michael Will stated.

He added that users who provided iris data would now have the opportunity to fully exercise their right to erasure.

In a blog post, the World Foundation expressed concern over the lack of clarity in EU definitions of anonymisation, stating that a clearer definition is needed to protect privacy in the era of artificial intelligence.

“Without a clear definition around anonymisation, we lose perhaps our most powerful tool in the fight to protect privacy in the age of AI,” emphasised Damien Kieran, TFH’s chief legal and privacy officer.

At the time of reporting, the price of Worldcoin (WLD) was $2.26.