Kenyan High Court Declares WorldCoin’s Activities Illegal, Orders Biometric Data Deletion

Kenyan High Court has hit the WorldCoin Foundation by declaring the company’s data collection activities in Kenya as illegal.

WorldCoin, now World Network, is a for-profit cryptocurrency project that uses iris biometrics to authenticate humans online. It was Co-founded by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.

On Monday, April 5, 2025, Lady Justice Aburili Roselyne of the Kenyan High Court invalidated the WorldCoin Foundation’s activities in the country and ordered that the iris and facial data the company collected from Kenyans should be deleted within seven days.

Justice Aburili’s decision Includes an Order of Certiorari which nullifies WorldCoin’s decision to collect and process such data within the country, and also a directive to delete all the previously gathered data.

Furthermore, the court prohibits the WorldCoin Foundation and its agents from future processing of such biometric data in the country.

The court argued that the Foundation’s actions infringe on the right to privacy of every Kenyan citizen.

In addition, the company engaged in an activity that didn’t go through the Data Protection Impact Assessment, which contradicts Kenya’s section 31 of the Data Protection Act, 2019.

“An order of Mandamus compelling the Worldcoin Foundation and its agents to permanently delete (under the supervision of the Data Protection Commissioner) within seven days any biometric data collected in Kenya…,”

the order read.

WorldCoin Promises Kenyans KES 7,000 in Exchange for Biometric Data

In 2023, WorldCoin had many Kenyans trooped down to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) to have their data taken WorldCoin in exchange for KES 7,000 (~$52) paid in $WLD cryptocurrency.

Nonetheless, the Kenyan Government put a stop to the data collection exercise, citing security concerns which might not be properly handled by the company due to the large numbers of people wanting their eyes and faces screened.

Subsequently, the Kenyan police opened a case against the company for unlawful collection and transfer of personal sensitive data.

However, in June 2024, Tools for Humanity, a core contributor to WorldCoin, announced the resumption of the company’s operations in the country following the decision by Director of Public Prosecution Renson Ingonga to close the case.

“We will continue working with the government of Kenya and others and we hope to resume World ID registration across the country soon,” the company added.

Despite that, the recent judgement sided with Katiba Institute, which dragged WorldCoin to the court, challenging its right to collect, process, and transfer biometrics using the Worldcoin App and the Orb.

Kenya Seeks to Regulate Crypto Market Through its Virtual Assets Service Providers Bill 2025

Moreover, this issue and the likes, including Kenya’s inclusion in the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force, aggravated Kenya’s strong stance against any action that jeopardised the company’s reputation.

In fact, Kenya’s Virtual Assets Service Providers Bill 2025 aims to regulate the crypto market by enforcing licensing, banning anonymity-enhancing tools, and requiring transparency in transactions.

Despite the ruling against WorldCoin, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) stated that the company would be allowed to operate in the country if it considered registration with the Business Registry.