- Ndegwa argued that the courts in remedying those that seek legal redress only rely on a “cocktail of legislative” proposals in place.
- Muturi who had appeared before the Committee also revealed that Worldcoin operated illegally in the country.
Image: STATE HOUSE
Worldcoin operators took advantage of legal loopholes in the country to undertake the data mining business from Kenyans, MPs heard Wednesday.
In his submission before the Parliament’s Ad hoc Committee inquiring into the activities of the crypto project, Attorney General Justin Muturi said that currently there is no specific legislation to regulate the use of a person’s image rights.
“A person may fall victim to commercial appropriation of their image rights because there are no clear-cut legal remedies at their disposal,” said Muturi through Principal State Counsel Karen Ndegwa.
As a result of this lacuna, she noted, it might not be possible for Kenyans whose data was collected to be guaranteed its safety. Ndegwa argued that the courts in remedying those that seek legal redress only rely on a “cocktail of legislative” proposals in place.
The particular laws being applied by the courts, she pointed out, include that of intellectual property, common law and consumer protection.
“A person’s image rights are protected under the constitutional right to privacy and property under Article 28 and Article 40 respectively,” she observed.In his presentation Tuesday, Head of Cybersecurity David Njoga indicated that data collected from Kenyans and other users by Worldcoin would be stored in Amazon Web Services in the US.
“From our interviews, they mentioned that the data was transferred to the Amazon servers based in the US. They had indicated that the data is secure but that needs deeper investigations,” said Njoga.
Muturi who had appeared before the Committee chaired by Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo to provide the legal status of the project also revealed that Worldcoin operated illegally in the country.
He noted that it is not registered as a Business Company as provided for in law. "Chair, from the information that we have, the name Worldcoin does not appear in the BRS database as a registered business company...this is contrary to the law which provides that all foreign companies must obtain registration," said Muturi.
He said under section 974 of the Companies Act of 2015, a foreign company shall not undertake any business in Kenya unless registered in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
Tools for Humanity, a German-based company that is an affiliate of Worldcoin, he added, is also not registered as a business company locally.
He, however, revealed that only the Sales Marketing Company, another subsidiary was incorporated as a private limited company in 2013. The Company, he explained, is registered under Kevin Odumbe who is a 100 percent shareholder with its offices located at LR 209/37 Langata/Kitengela Road.
According to Muturi, Tools for Humanity (Germany) and Tools for Humanity (US) were granted certificates by the Data Commissioner to operate as data processors. The applications for the same were submitted on August 22, 2022.
The hearing entered its second day Wednesday with more witnesses lined up to testify.
On Tuesday, the National Computer and Cybercrime Coordination Committee (NC4), which comprises various key agencies, appeared before the Committee.
On Thursday, Communications Authority of Kenya CEO Ezra Chiloba and Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha are scheduled to appear.