French Watchdog Searches Worldcoin Paris Office

France’s data regulator, the CNIL, this week carried out “checks” at the Paris office of Worldcoin, a digital identity and cryptocurrency platform co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, as part of CNIL investigation into the company’s privacy practices.

According to Reuters on Thursday (Aug. 31), the regulator had initially expressed its concerns over the collection and storage of biometric data by Worldcoin in July, which it claimed is “questionable” under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The Worldcoin Foundation, the Cayman Islands-based entity handling the project’s operations, told reporters it would be “welcoming any opportunity to address questions regarding the project’s purpose and technology.”

In addition to the GDPR violation allegations, Worldcoin had come under fire for its policy of requiring its users to provide an iris scan in exchange for a digital ID, and in some countries, a different type of digital currency. Worldcoin’s website claims that, in a trial over the last two years, over 2.1 million people have been signed up for the service.

A spokesperson from CNIL stated that the investigation was part of their broader effort to ensure data protection regulations are being followed by companies across Europe.

“The legality of this collection [of data] seems questionable,” expressed the French watchdog, “as do the storage conditions of biometric data.”

The Bavarian Data Protection Authority is also working in tandem with CNIL in this investigation, lending additional weight to the probe and signaling the seriousness with which the issue is being treated.

Worldcoin is confident that it will be able to resolve the issues while abiding by the GDPR. In a statement provided to Reuters, Worldcoin said, “We take our responsibility to our users and to the broader industry seriously. Security is at the core of our mission.”

This latest development shows just how seriously authorities in the EU take the protection of personal data, with CNIL and its counterparts putting companies like Worldcoin to the test. It remains to be seen what the outcome of the investigation will be, and whether or not the data gathering and storage methods used by Worldcoin will be found to be acceptable.