By Orenge Wycliff
- Interior CS Prof. Kithure KIndiki appeared in the National Assembly to answer the questions on the National security.
- Kindiki said the government has already mapped all individuals behind the registrations of citizens through a collection of eyeball/iris data.
- The CS told Parliament on Wednesday that the local agents of the foreign firm have already recorded statements and the security agencies are currently pursuing their accomplishes who are out of the country.
Interior Cabinet secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki arriving at the National Assembly. Photo| Curtesy
The Government is narrowing down on those behind the controversial Worldcoin activities in the country, Interior Cabinet Secretary has said.
Kindiki said the government has already mapped all individuals behind the registrations of citizens through a collection of eyeball/iris data.
The CS told Parliament on Wednesday that the local agents of the foreign firm have already recorded statements and the security agencies are currently pursuing their accomplices who are out of the country.
A young Lady has her eyes scanned to have her Worldcoin wallet verified in one Orb Centre in Nairobi. Photo | Curtesy
“The whole things seem to have been coordinated through a local company owned and registered in Kenya,” Kindiki said.
“We have on our radar all the people associated with the activity.. the locals have already recorded the statement and we will require the surrender of those who are not in the country.”
Prof. Kithure Kindiki 9 August 2023
Kindiki was appearing alongside his ICT counterpart Eliud Owalo to respond to Members’ concerns regarding the operations of Worldcoin in the country.
Worldcoin is said to be an open-source protocol, supported by a global community of developers, individuals, economists and technologists committed to expanding participation in, and access to, the global economy.
The Architects behind the development of the app say that the cryptocurrency app usage and access is limited to only the verified persons.
For one to be verified as Human, one has to have his iris of the eye scanned after showing his unique QR Code to the OrB.
What is an OrB
It’s a biometric imaging device developed by Tools for Humanity to prove personhood and enable universal access to the global economy in the most inclusive manner possible.
Once an individual has verified their uniqueness and humanness at an Orb, they receive a World ID that can be used as a privacy-preserving global digital passport to seamlessly sign in to websites, mobile apps and web3 dapps without sharing personal data like names, emails, etc.
https://worldcoin.org/blog/announcements/worldcoin-orb-going-on-tour-globally
The worldcoin company came up with more cunning ways of luring the people into having their biometrics taken through making it compulsory for one to visit an OrB Centre, have his/her Iris scanned and then be able to access the 25 Worldcoin tokens (57USD) which are directly withdrawable through various EFTs like Mpesa, Bank Wire Transfer etc.
Thousands of people que at an OrB centre in Nairobi to have their biometrics captured in order to verify their worldcoin IDs. Photo | Curtesy
This saw several people rush to OrB stations to have their eyes scanned in order to gain access to their $57 from the Worldcoin app.
Nevertheless, a week ago in Kenya, the verification activities by worldcoin agents hit a dead End after the government banned the collection of personal data until they prove the safety of the user data collected and the clear purpose for collecting such classified personal information.
This came after a series of serious concerns over the safety of the personal data being collected and their usage from the general public.
Such concerns made the CS interior Prof. Kithure Kindiki to stop all processes and have all the agents arrested for interrogation.
So far, several agents have been brought to book and others are at large as the state agencies intensify their search to have them arrested.