The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner on the third day of the Mombasa international show, expressed its commitment to educating citizens about their privacy rights and legal obligations under the law.
In early August, amid ongoing controversy surrounding the cryptocurrency project Worldcoin, the High Court of Kenya issued a directive ordering Worldcoin to cease processing new biometric data within the country.
The court order remains in effect pending the resolution of an ongoing investigation initiated by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner of Kenya.
The suspension of Worldcoin’s operations was initiated due to growing apprehensions regarding the legality and data protection aspects of the project.
The injunction, issued in response to a formal complaint filed by the Kenya Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), alleging that Worldcoin had amassed extensive volumes of personal information in violation of Kenya’s data protection laws.
Among the concerns raised by the DPC is Worldcoin’s storage of biometric data, including iris scans.
Furthermore, the court also issued an order mandating the DPC to revoke Worldcoin’s registration certificates as data controllers, citing allegations of misrepresentation and non-disclosure that contravened Section 19 (2) of the Data Protection Act, as well as Regulations 5 and 16 of the Data Protection (Registration of Data Controllers and Data Processors) Regulations, 2021.
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner took to Twitter, stating, “We are keen to enlighten Wananchi on their rights to privacy and compliance obligations as stipulated in the law.”
