The actions initiated against Worldcoin by the AEPD, the nation’s private data watchdog, have been upheld by the Audiencia Nacional (National Hearing), a special institution in Spain. The general interest in safeguarding people’s data must take precedence over the business’s financial interest, the court ruled.
Spanish Audiencia Continues to Put Worldcoin Activities on Hold
The biometric identification project Worldcoin is encountering further resistance because of its operations in Spain. The Spanish Audiencia Nacional (National Hearing) upheld the directive to cease gathering personal information and scanning Spanish people’ iris scans, as well as the actions taken by the AEPD, the personal data watchdog, regarding the project’s operations.
The panel ruled last week that the AEPD’s actions were appropriate because Worldcoin processes biometric data on a large number of residents, and the citizens’ consent is “unclear” for this processing.
The decision was made in response to Worldcoin’s complaint to overturn a law that prohibited its operations in Spain for up to three months. The complaint was supported by multiple reports, including concerns about the inability to revoke consent to distribute biometric data and the reading of biometric data from minors.
The tribunal cited the need to “protect the general interest which consists of the protection of the right to protection of personal data of the interested parties” over the appellant company’s “particular interest of fundamentally economic content” in order to justify its decision.
But as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) stipulates that these actions can only be performed by data regulators under each company’s jurisdiction, the ruling does not address the concerns that Worldcoin brought up when it said the AEPD had overreached. “Capable to adopt said measure without prejudice to what is agreed upon when the merits of the matter are resolved,” the tribunal ruled in favor of the AEPD.
Worldcoin’s problems in Spain are an addition to those it has elsewhere. The investigation into the company’s data gathering tactics was disclosed by the South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission on March 3.
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