Uproar over digital company scanning eyes of Kenyans

Debate over the shadowy activities of a digital currencies company that has been offering Kenyans Sh7,700 to have their irises scanned rocked the National Assembly yesterday with leaders from both divides trading accusations over the role of the dubious firm.

Although Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki told MPs that two Kenyans were behind Worldcoin, the company that has been dishing out the crypto-currencies to Kenyans in exchange for their iris scans for digital identities, he did not give a clear picture of who the individuals were.

He only said that the local representatives of Worldcoin were Emmanuel Otieno — who is in charge of operations — and Rael Mwende — the firm’s country manager. He told MPs that officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have been interrogating the two since Wednesday. However, he did not reveal more details about who the two were and what they do or why they were paying Kenyans to create digital identities without adequate data protection safeguards.

What emerged, however, was that Worldcoin had hired a Kenyan company, Sense Marketing, to capture the data on its behalf. The firm has been operating in Kenya since June 11.

Its officials, including an individual identified as Poitr Piwowarczyk, left the country on June 25 after setting up the local network.
Kindiki, in a statement read by Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wah, said Piwowarczyk was on record to have entered Kenya on several occasions. The CS said as a precautionary measure, Immigration authorities had been directed to ensure that no persons — whether Kenyan or foreigner associated with the firm — leaves Kenya without the clearance of the DCI officer in charge of the ongoing investigations.

“The investigations will also cover any persons of interest who may be outside the territory of Kenya in accordance with relevant international procedures and protocols on Mutual Legal Assistance and the exercise of extra-territorial jurisdiction,” said the CS.

As far as Kindiki was concerned, the firm was operating illegally and was under investigation to establish how it embarked on its operations.

“The aforesaid entity is NOT registered as a legal entity in Kenya,” Kindiki said.
While responding to Kindiki’s statement, Worldcoin, in an unsigned statement, said it had a strong base in Kenya and had established a relationship with the Blockchain Association of Kenya as well as with the Nairobi County government.

“We acknowledge the Ministry’s statement and wish to emphasise that security is our topmost priority and we understand the huge crowds over three days at KICC presented a major issue,” the firm said. “In an attempt to mitigate crowd volume, verification services have been temporarily paused.”

In the National Assembly, meanwhile, there was uproar with MPs demanding to know how and who authorised the firm to set base in Kenya. However, Ichung’wah told the legislators that the data that the firm has been mining from Kenyan youths was in safe custody.

On Wednesday, Manyatta MP John Mukunji had sought a statement from the Cabinet Secretaries, Interior and Ministry of ICT on the foreign data collection company. Worldcoin collects data by way of scanning irises in exchange for some money, in Kenya’s case the equivalent of Sh7,700 in cryptocurrencies that can be instantly converted into cash. Mukunji wanted to know the steps the government was taking to ensure control of data collection and storage by foreign entities.

“Could the CS also tell the country who licensed and authorised the biometric data collection by Worldcoin and was the correct procedure followed?” posed the MP.

Further, he wanted the CS to explain the safety guarantees that the government has put in place to ensure that the data will be exclusively used for the intended purpose and Kenyan citizens will not incur any loss.

Mukunji wanted the government to reveal the source of the money being used to pay participants and who stands to benefit from this exercise.

Homa Bay Woman Rep Atieno Bensuda demanded that Kindiki be summoned to appear before Parliament to explain how the firm had managed to make its way into the country and operate without the knowledge of security agencies.

“It’s obvious that security agencies, including the National Intelligence Service, slept on the job. The CS must be held accountable and pay for his shortcomings,” she said. After the issue came to the public limelight, the government through the Ministry of Interior and National Administration suspended the activities of Worldcoin in Kenya.

“Consequently, criminal investigations have commenced to establish the authenticity and legality of the aforesaid activities, the safety and protection of the data being harvested, and how the harvesters intend to use the data,” Kindiki said in his statement. The company, in a rejoinder, said it was committed “to adhering to all relevant regulations set forth by Kenyan authorities and ensuring a safe and compliant ecosystem.

Earlier, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner had questioned why the company had set up booths across the country to scan the irises of interested Kenyans on April 19, last year.

This was in anticipation of the launch of their cryptocurrency, which happened last week. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner commenced its assessment of the organisation in May 2022.
“In the course of its assessments, the office initially suspended the operations of Worldcoin in May 2022 for a period of 60 days to ascertain the lawful basis and safeguards adopted by Worldcoin,” explained Kindiki.

Subsequently, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner raised concerns with the processing activities of the entity and wrote to the entity in 30th May 2023 and directed immediate cessation of processing of sensitive personal data, namely: iris and facial data, of data subjects.

The Office further directed that Worldcoin safely restrict processing any data that had already been processed and advise the Office of the safeguards placed on the restricted data.

Kindiki confirmed that immediate mitigation steps have been taken including constitution of a multi-agency team comprising of security, financial services and data protection agencies.
Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi dismissed calls for a statement on the matter saying it does not require any further statements from either of those CSs.

“As a House, we just need to undertake a very thorough and expeditious investigation and summon everybody else who could be involved in this nefarious activity,” said Wandayi adding if we come here again and ask for responses from the two CSs who appear to be speaking at cross-purposes on this single issue, then what are we doing?”

A man holds a placard inviting Kenyans to register for Worldcoin at KICC, Nairobi on Tuesday.
PD/JOHN OCHIENG