Italy: Issued interim ruling in GPDP investigation into Worldcoin's data collection and processing practices compliance with GDPR

On 2 April 2024, the Italian Privacy Authority (GPDP) issued an interim ruling in its investigation into Worldcoin. Specifically, the investigation concerned the Worldcoin project of creating a global identity called World ID and a global financial network and its compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Worldcoin aims to create a World ID through biometric identification, such as the face and iris, in exchange for WLD cryptocurrency. The collection of data is based on the user's consent. The GPDP's investigation concerns the validity of this consent in light of the alleged insufficient information basis and the receipt of free WLD tokens in exchange for the data. The GPDP preliminarily found, based on information provided by Worldcoin and information available on its website, that this consent does not meet the requirements for a valid consent. Further, the GPDP noted its concern with the lack of age verification mechanisms.