Worldcoin commits to stop its activity in Spain
- Once the period of validity of the precautionary measure imposed by the Spanish Data Protection Agency has concluded, the company has committed in a legally binding manner not to resume its activity in Spain until a final resolution of the data protection authority of Bavaria is adopted.
(4th June 2024). Last March, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) issued a precautionary measure ordering Tools for Humanity Corporation to cease the collection and processing of personal data that it was carrying out in Spain within the framework of its Worldcoin project.
In the meantime investigations of the Bayerisches Landesamt für Datenschutzaufsicht (BayLDA), the data protection authority of Bavaria (Germany), where the company has its main establishment in Europe are progressing and expected to be concluded soon by a final decision based on alignments with all concerned European supervisory authorities. Against this background, the company has now made a legally binding commitment not to resume its activity in Spain until the end of the year or, if applicable, until the BayLDA, adopts a final resolution in relation to the data processing carried out by the company.
This legally binding commitment adopted by the company does not affect the powers of BayLDA or AEPD to adopt additional supervisory measures in the event of non-compliance with these obligations.
The precautionary measure, foreseen in article 66.1 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to protect the rights and freedoms of interested parties, was endorsed by the National Court considering that the safeguarding of the general interest, which consists of the protection of the right to protection of personal data of the data subjects, prevailed against the particular interest of a company.
Following the provisional measure imposed by the Agency, Tools for Humanity Corporation announced changes to its operation, such as the introduction of controls to verify age or the possibility of eliminating the iris code.
The Agency is collaborating with the Bavarian data protection authority, as this is the main authority regarding data processing, with the AEPD being the interested authority, as established by the GDPR.