Africa-Press – Kenya. The government has barred individuals linked to activities of Worldcoin from leaving the country pending the conclusion of investigations into the crypto firm’s operations in Kenya. Interior CS Kithure Kindiki said on Thursday the Directorate of Criminal Investigations has since Wednesday been interrogating two individuals.
The investigations, he said, seek to establish the authenticity and legality of the cryptocurrency company’s activities in Kenya, the safety and protection of the data harvested and how the firm intends to use the data.
“As a precautionary measure, the Immigration authorities have been directed to ensure that no persons whether Kenyan or foreign nationals associated with this entity leaves Kenya without the clearance of the Director of Criminal Investigations who is in charge of the ongoing investigations,” Kindiki said.
He spoke when he appeared before Senate’s Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations. The CS said preliminary investigations indicate that Worldcoin procured the services of a company in Kenya called Sense Marketing to run the registration exercise which has since been suspended.
“The local representatives of Worldcoin are Mr Emmanuel Otieno who is described to be in charge of operations and a Ms Rael Mwende who is described as the Country Manager,” Kindiki said. He revealed that a foreigner, a MR Poitr Piwowarczyk who is also associated with the firm has since left the country.
The CS said the individual is among foreign nationals associated with Worldcoin and “is on record to have entered Kenya on several occasions, the last one being in June 2023 (Arrival – 11th June 2023; Departure 25th June, 2023)”.
Kindiki said the government will extend investigations beyond the borders to cover any persons of interest who may be outside the country. This, he said, is in accordance with relevant international procedures and protocols on Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) and the exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The investigations, he said, are being carried out by a multi-agency team comprising security, financial services and data protection agencies. Kindiki told the lawmakers that Worldcoin is not licensed to operate in Kenya although it holds a certificate of registration for data collection.
He said the certificate is only one of the compliance requirements but is not a valid license for the entity to operate in Kenya. “The certificate signifies that an entity is known to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner that it processes personal data of persons located in Kenya…it does not amount to certification of the processing activities of an entity.”
Prior to the launch of its activities in Kenya last week, the CS revealed that Worldcoin first made its presence in Kenya in April 2022. He said the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner initially suspended the activities of the firm for 60 days in May of that year in the course of assessing its activities. This, he said, was for purposes of ascertaining the lawful basis and safeguards adopted to safeguard and protect data it intended to collect.
“Subsequently, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner conducted a spot check on May 24, 2023. The Office, again, raised concerns with the processing activities of the entity and wrote to the entity on May 30, 2023, and directed immediate cessation of processing of sensitive personal data, namely: iris and facial data of data subjects,” Kindiki said.
It appears Worldcoin ignored the directive as it commenced the onboarding of users on Monday, June 31 before the government halted the exercise on Wednesday over data privacy concerns.
Despite the Communications Authority and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner jointly cautioning Kenyans to be vigilant when providing sensitive personal data to the firm, thousands of Kenyans signed up and had their irises scanned in exchange for Sh7,000.
“The government is not aware of the source of funds,” Kindiki said adding that investigations will seek to establish the source.
To be entitled to the Sh7,000, one had to voluntarily agree to have their eyeballs scanned with a device called Orb to ascertain that they are not bots.
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