World Coin Activities To Relaunch In Kenya
Cryptocurrency firm Worldcoin will soon resume user registration in Kenya after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) instructed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to drop its investigation into allegations of illegal collection and transfer of user data by the firm.
Kenya had suspended Worldcoin’s activities in August of last year and initiated an inquiry to assess the safety of the data being collected at that time.
In a letter dated June 14 to Coulson Harney, the law firm representing Worldcoin, the DCI stated that the chief prosecutor had ordered the case to be closed with no further police action.
“The DCI expeditiously and objectively investigated an array of allegations into the activities of Worldcoin in Kenya in 2022/23 and touching on alleged unlawful collection and transfer of personal sensitive data,” the letter seen by this publication reads in part.
“The resultant investigation file was forwarded to the ODPP for an independent review and advice. Upon review of the file, the DPP concurred and directed that the file be closed with no further police action”
Worldcoin is being rolled out by Tools for Humanity, a company co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
“We are grateful for the DCI’s fair investigation and for the Director of Public Prosecutions’ determination to close the matter,” Thomas Scott, chief legal officer at Tools for Humanity, said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
The investigation was dropped just three months after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki disclosed to the National Assembly’s Committee on Public Petitions that Kenya was facing pressure from the US government to lift the suspension of Worldcoin’s activities. At that time, he had vowed not to give in to the pressure.
“The United States has been pushing the government on the issues of Worldcoin, but we have remained adamant and firm,” he told the committee in March.
“They (the US) think that they (Worldcoin) still have a case to set up their activities here. We have remained adamant and the decision we took will remain. We are not going to review the suspension.”
