China Warns Foreign Crypto Project Over Iris Data Security Risks
China has issued a warning against a foreign cryptocurrency project it alleges collects users’ iris scans in exchange for tokens, citing concerns over privacy violations and national security risks. According to the advisory from the China’s Ministry of State Security, the practice involves transferring sensitive biometric data overseas, which could enable potential threats such as identity theft and espionage [1]. While the advisory does not name the firm, the described model aligns with that of the project known as World (formerly Worldcoin), which launched in 2023 to verify human users through iris scanning and issue WLD tokens in return [1].
Iris scans are considered uniquely sensitive as the data is permanent and can be traced…
