Worldcoin Fined in South Korea Over Privacy Laws

South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission, the national data protection authority of South Korea, has imposed a fine of KRW 1.1 billion on the Worldcoin Foundation and Tools For Humanity (TFH) in an official ruling. At the time of writing, the fine amounts to approximately $830,000.

According to the agency, investigations began in February after users complained that the company may be engaging in biometric collection and offering users tokens in return.

This came after 90% of the 1,100+ respondents in Korea said technology such as World ID, that differentiates between humans and bots online is necessary. 90% of the more than 19,300 respondents also said they support the return of Worldcoin operations to Portugal.

The investigations revealed that the Worldcoin Foundation and TFH have no legal basis to obtain iris scans of South Koreans. The regulator also emphasized that the foundation failed to disclose to users the purpose of the iris collection and how long would the data be stored as per the law.

Both the Worldcoin Foundation and TFH also failed to mention that data collected will be handed over to foreign countries. According to local law, any instance of a foreign entity receiving personal information must be declared.

Damien Kieran, the chief privacy officer of TFH responded to the investigation by saying: "We are gratified by the PIPC's findings, which validate our unwavering commitment to user privacy and data protection. This outcome is the result of months of constructive dialogue and demonstrates that innovation and regulatory compliance can go hand in hand."

It is estimated that almost 100,000 South Koreans downloaded Worldcoin’s application, and close to one-third of them use iris authentication. It remains unsure how these users will be affected given the results of the investigation.

Just this week, Worldcoin announced that it is expanding World ID to Malaysia, Guatemala, and Poland, sending its token, WLD up more than 15%. Over the week, WLD is still up more than 25% despite South Korea's fine.