Thousands of Kenyans on Tuesday flocked the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi to take part in the Worldcoin cryptocurrency trade.
The Crypto technology that involves scanning one’s iris in return for cash has gained popularity in Kenya.
Long queues leading to KICC were witnessed on Tuesday, reaching as far as City Hall.
After getting their eyeballs scanned, the participants receive free tokens known as WLD. The WLD 25 tokens translate to Ksh.7786.
Kenyans continue to participate in the trade despite caution from Office of Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC). Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait called for increased vigilance when signing up for WorldCoin.
“The ODPC is aware that WorldCoin has now been launched and is processing sensitive personal data in a manner that requires a demonstration of proper safeguards under the Data Protection Act, 2019,” reads a statement from the commission.
Kassait said the commission is conducting its assessment of WorldCoin’s practices to ensure compliance with the law.
WorldCoin, a project by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has been heavily criticised over privacy concerns but the company’s website says the project is “completely private” and that data is deleted or a user can opt to have it stored in encrypted form.
