The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) has alleged that Worldcoin , a company that verifies identities using iris scanning, violated personal data protection guidelines in Colombia. In its notification against Worldcoin, the SIC underlines a first act of indictment that is initiated without formal accusation, with the proceedings intending to determine whether the investigated companies, including Worldcoin and Tools of Humanity, the firm behind the decentralised identity project, disregarded the Colombian personal data protection guidelines when collecting sensitive personal data.

As detailed on its website, Worldline is gathering data on individuals with its Orb device in 25 locations across Colombia, including Bogota and six other major cities, such as Medellin, Cartagena, and Barranquilla. Moreover, if the SIC’s investigation determines that Worldcoin is guilty of violating Colombia’s data protection regime, the authority is set to impose economic sanctions to temporary suspension or immediate and definitive closure of its operations. CoinDesk requested a comment on the matter from Worldcoin, however, the company did not immediately respond. Other governments closing Worldcoin’s operations The Colombian government is not the first one to question or halt the operations of Worldcoin, with Ecuador recently issuing a notification related to the risks presented by the delivery of biometric data to the firm, while Argentina fined the Worldcoin Foundation nearly USD 210,000 for not acquiring accreditation that the service is restricted to those of 18 years or older. Additionally, Worldcoin halted its Orb operations in Brazil soon after it launched in the region. Before this, specifically at the end of December 2023, the company announced temporarily closing its offline verification process in India, as it faced public controversies and regulatory scrutiny due to gathering private data after it was called an ethically questionable project.

Furthermore, the Kenyan legislative committee recommended the termination of Worldcoin in the East African country. After an investigation conducted over several months, Kenya’s ICT regulator was called on disabling the firm’s physical and virtual presence, including blacklisting the IP addresses of related websites, until the country could establish proper regulations regarding virtual assets. .