Recent reports from local news organizations have revealed that Kenyan police have carried out a raid on the Nairobi warehouse belonging to Worldcoin, a tech company focused on digital identity verification. During the operation, documents and machinery were confiscated by the police.

Immaculate Kassait, who serves as the commissioner of Kenya’s Office of Data Protection, has alleged that Tools for Humanity, the parent company of Worldcoin, failed to provide accurate information about its intentions when registering in Kenya. According to media sources, Kassait stated that the company’s true motives were not properly disclosed. The confiscated data from Worldcoin has been taken to the headquarters of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for further analysis, as per the reports.

Worldcoin, co-founded by tech entrepreneur Sam Altman, who is also the CEO of OpenAI, has a vision to revolutionize online identity verification using technologies such as iris scans, artificial intelligence, and zero-knowledge proofs. The company aims to establish a unique and verifiable human presence on the internet. Authenticated users are eligible to receive Worldcoin tokens as grants. Moreover, developers can leverage this identity protocol to create applications and incorporate a wallet for the distribution of Worldcoin tokens.

The launch of the project in July introduced a mechanism where users could receive Worldcoin tokens through airdrops in exchange for undergoing scans. However, the project has encountered difficulties in Kenya.

Reports from Kahawatungu, a media outlet, detail that officers, assisted by officials from various agencies, executed a search warrant at the company’s offices along Mombasa Road. The officers forcibly entered the premises and reportedly seized machines believed to store data collected by Worldcoin.

In recent developments, the Ministry of the Interior suspended the operations of the project in Kenya. Eliud Owalo, Kenya’s minister for the digital economy, initially stated that the ODPC had engaged with Worldcoin since April and had determined that the company’s activities aligned with the country’s data protection laws. Subsequently, the ODPC released a statement indicating that a preliminary review had raised legitimate regulatory concerns regarding the project.

Beyond Kenya, authorities in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany are also examining the Worldcoin project and its implications.