According to Yassad News, citing Reuters, the WordCoin project, which was launched last Monday, asks all users to share their cornea scan in exchange for a digital ID and, in some countries, to receive a password. The website of this project mentions that 2.1 million people have participated in its testing, which will last more than 2 years. WordCoin offers registration websites in different parts of the world and people can scan their face with the help of a glowing orb. After launching the project, the British data regulator announced that it will conduct an investigation. In the meantime, CNIL, the French data watchdog, said in response to Reuters’ question about WordCoin: “The legality of information collection and the conditions for storing biometric data are questionable.”
The WordCoin Foundation also wrote in an email: WordCoin is designed to protect people’s privacy and is required to comply with regulations with a powerful privacy program. The office of the WordCoin Foundation is located in the Cayman Islands. This project is under the supervision of the data protection office of the state of Bavaria, Germany. According to the statement of the foundation, the mentioned project cooperates with the supervisory organizations regarding the information related to the performance of privacy and data protection.
