- MPs wanted assurance that the data so far harvested is safe.
- The government issued a directive to World Coin to cease the processing of irises and facial recognition data in the country.
Image: File
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula has directed Interior CS Kithure Kindiki and his ICT counterpart Eliud Owalo to furnish the House with the details of the Worldcoin Cryptocurrency tokens within one week.
The Speaker wants the two Cabinet secretaries to explain how the company was registered and the measures taken by the government to safeguard the security of the already harvested data.
The ministers will also clarify whether the data collected amounts to a breach of the security of those involved.
Wetang’ula also advised the data protection department to be excluded from the ongoing probe claiming some of the officers could be accomplished by the foreign firm.
“I will give you another week so that you can come back to the house with a more detailed answer. Please when responding, these members want to know who licenced these people to operate here,” he said.
Kindiki said the government has already mapped all individuals behind the registrations of citizens through a collection of eyeball/iris data.
The CS told Parliament on Wednesday that the local agents of the foreign firm have already recorded statements and the security agencies are currently pursuing their accomplishes who are out of the country.
“The whole things seem to have been coordinated through a local company owned and registered in Kenya,” Kindiki said.
CS Kindiki revealed that relevant security, financial services and protection agencies have commenced inquiries and investigations to establish the authenticity and legality of the aforesaid activities.
“We have on our radar all the people associated with the activity.. the locals have already recorded the statement and we will require the surrender of those who are not in the country.”
“We will pin down people, it is just a matter of time.”
Kindiki was appearing alongside his ICT counterpart Eliud Owalo to respond to Members’ concerns regarding the operations of Worldcoin in the country.
The government on July 30, 2023, issued a directive to World Coin to cease the processing of irises and facial recognition data in the country.
A further directive was given on August 2, 2023, to World Coin to cease all operations in Kenya.
Kindiki also assured Kenyans of the safety of the already harvested data revealing the government has already obtained a gag order against the processing of the data.
“We have preservation orders that the data should not be processed. We are informed by the experts that the data even if it is preserved in the clouds it is retrievable,” he said.
The CS was responding to MPs' concern about the safety of the harvested data and whether the same could be used to the disadvantage of Kenyans who participated in the exercise.
Last month, hundreds of Kenyans were seen queuing at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre(KICC) to scan their eyeballs in return for the Worldcoin cryptocurrency tokens valued at about Sh7,700.
Worldcoin is a crypto wallet app launched on July 24, 2023.
It uses a combination of cryptocurrency and biometric registration to create a new kind of global identity service.
Worldcoin was co-founded by Open AI CEO Sam Altman.
It aims to create a global financial network and identity by showing proof of personhood.
Currently, it is readily available in cities like Nairobi, Hong Kong, Lisbon, Mexico City, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Singapore and Paris