The CEO of Worldcoin’s founding entity confirmed on Aug. 2 that his organization has paused “World ID verifications in Kenya” and will attempt to address concerns raised by authorities. Kenya’s ICT Minister Eliud Owalo has said Worldcoin’s verification services were being carried out within the confines of the law.
Worldcoin Activities Not in Breach of Kenyan Laws
Alex Blania, the co-founder and CEO of Worldcoin’s founding entity Tools for Humanity (TFH), announced on Aug. 2 that his organization had “paused World ID verifications in Kenya.” According to Blania, this move gives his organization time to address some of the concerns raised by Kenyan regulators.
TFH has paused World ID verifications in Kenya as we continue to work with local regulators to address their questions. We apologize to everyone in Kenya for the delay.
World ID is built for privacy. We look forward to resuming operations, while continuing global rollout.
— Alex Blania (@alexblania) August 2, 2023
The remarks by Blania follow reports that the Kenyan government has suspended Worldcoin activities over public safety concerns. Before the government decided to suspend Worldcoin’s activities, the Kenyan data regulator warned residents against giving away their details via TFH’s eye scanners which are also known as “Orbs.”
Despite facing heat from regulators and government officials, TFH’s crypto project appears to have won the backing of the country’s ICT minister, Eliud Owalo. In remarks made on the day Worldcoin’s activities were suspended, Owalo insisted that Blania’s organization was “acting within the law.” The ICT minister also pointed to the fact that most Kenyan participants were not being forced to share their details.
Mitigating Crowd Volumes
Meanwhile, in an apparent response to concerns raised by the Kenyan government when it announced the suspension of Worldcoin’s activities, Blania suggested that his organization is pro-privacy.
“World ID is built for privacy. We look forward to resuming operations while continuing global rollout,” Blania said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, in addition to Blania’s tweet, the Worldcoin team released a statement in which they also confirm the temporary pause of verification services in the East African country. The team, however, characterizes the pause as a step it took “to mitigate crowd volume.”
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