Worldcoin to end personal data storage for its 4.5 million users to resolve privacy concerns

Worldcoin (WLD) announced on Friday that it will no longer store biometric information from its users. The data collected by the organization’s Orbs will be, hosted on the user’s devices rather than in the Worldcoin Foundation database. The move occurs after Worldcoin has faced inquiries – and outright activity bans – from many countries due to concerns about what the company is doing with users’ personal information.

In a blog post, the company also said that users will still have the option to opt-in to giving the Worldcoin Foundation access to their images from the Orb. 

Also read: Worldcoin rally persists despite South Korean probe over users' personal data

Worldcoin to end user data storage amidst legal woes

Worldcoin has faced criticism and drawn the attention of government authorities in Germany, South Korea, France, Kenya, and Spain. The root of Worldcoin’s legal troubles is privacy issues since the project’s Orb captures biometric data from users. The usage of these data has raised concerns in several countries. 

Early in March, South Korea’s legal authorities started investigating the project after concerns were raised about the collection and storage of personal information of users.

Sam Altman led Worldcoin clarified its stance on the legality of its operations after Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) moved to prohibit the project’s activities within the country for three months. 

The protocol announced that it maintains a steadfast commitment to adhering to local and international laws. The blog states that Worldcoin operates lawfully in all of the locations in which it is available.

In its Friday blog update, the project said that during World ID verification, the Orb will process images locally on-device and transfer them to the user’s custody. The project has been working on this “Personal Custody” project since December 2023. 

The introduction of Personal Custody will eliminate the need for storing this data on the Orb or uploading it to a backend, the company said. 

Users will have the option to opt-in to giving the Worldcoin Foundation access to their images for safekeeping, Worldcoin says:

Users can explicitly opt-in to giving the Worldcoin Foundation access to their images for the purposes of ensuring trust, safety, and improving the system.

WLD price is up nearly 5% intraday

Worldcoin’s token WLD is currently trading at $7.740, well below its March 17 local top of $9.963. The token’s price is up nearly 5% intraday. WLD price could face resistance at $7.826 and $8.185, the 50% and 78.6% Fibonacci retracement levels of its climb from the March 20 low of $7.2 to the March 21 peak of $8.453. 

The Fair Value Gap (FVG) in the range between $8.548 and $8.723 is likely the target zone for WLD price, in the upside scenario.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dropped to 44.96 at the time of writing. 

WLD/USDT 30-minute chart 

A daily candlestick close below $7.496, the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level could invalidate the bullish scenario. WLD price could find support at the March 20 low of $7.20.