•Judge Sifuna said the order of the court should be placed in a newspaper with wide circulation so that Kenyans can be aware of it.
•In an affidavit, Deputy Data Commissioner Oscar Otieno says they commenced an assessment of Worldcoin in May 2022.
Image: The Star
No further data will be collected from Kenyans by the cryptocurrency firm Worldcoin, pending the determination of a case filed by the office of the Data Commissioner, the High Court has ruled.
Justice Nixon Sifuna ordered that the data already collected by Worldcoin from April last year to August 2023 should be preserved.
The case was initially filed before the Milimani Constitutional Court but was transferred to the Criminal Division of the High Court.
Justice Mugambi in transferring the file said the matter is best handled in that division since the application before the court is seeking preservatory orders to facilitate investigations.
In its application before the Court, the State Agency argued that unless the Court intervenes, the already collected data faces the risk of being erased and modified.
It said the preservation orders are essential to support the ongoing investigations aimed at determining whether the processing of personal data aligns with the Data Protection Act.
The Worldcoin project is described on its website as one ‘aimed at establishing universal access to the global economy regardless of country or background. It is designed to become the world's largest human identity and financial network, giving ownership to everyone.’
The Agency told Justice Sifuna that they had suspended the Worldcoin project.
It had issued a directive to cease processing of personal data but Tools for Humanity Corporation (Worldcoin), Tools for Humanity GmbH (Worldcoin) and Sense Marketing Limited (respondents) continued to operate.
In an affidavit, Deputy Data Commissioner Oscar Otieno says they commenced an assessment of Worldcoin in May 2022.
In the course of the assessments, they suspended their operations for 60 days to ascertain the lawful basis of processing and safeguards adopted by the respondents.
The Agency directed Worldcoin to safely restrict the processing of any data that had already been processed.
“Despite the suspension and directive to cease processing of personal data, the respondents continued to process the said personal data. It took the public directive by the CS Interior to halt their operations on August 2," Otieno said.