The global economy belongs to everyone.

In a letter dated 14 June 2024,  the Directorate of Criminal Investigations of Kenya’s Police Service notified Worldcoin contributor Tools for Humanity that it shared the results of its investigation with Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions and that, upon review of the findings, the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted the results of the investigation and “directed that the file be closed with no further police action” (emphasis in original).

  • For over two years, preparations for launching Worldcoin—the hardware, the business model, the communications approach—have been made in more than two dozen countries on five continents.
  • Countries prioritized for deeper involvement include Argentina, Chile, India, Kenya, and Portugal. Each brought diversity to the product’s development on axes like climate, cultural mores, and diversity in physical characteristics (to help combat AI bias). Other considerations included measures like internet connectivity, adoption of mobile money, and ownership of mobile phones.
  • Kenya previously experienced the “leapfrog” to mobile technology and money (M-Pesa).  Technology adoption, political stability and security, and the talent pool have made “Silicon Savannah” a destination for many global technology companies including  Google, Microsoft, and Visa.
  • Kenya has over 4 million crypto users and a significantly sized population lacking a digital identity. Worldcoin is built on a crypto token (WLD) and a privacy-preserving, universally inclusive digital identity (World ID).
  • Contributors to Worldcoin, like the Worldcoin Foundation and TFH, are steadfast in their commitments to ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and to being good partners with the communities and governments where Worldcoin is available.
  • Before Orb verifications are conducted in any country, local legal counsel is engaged to review Worldcoin and provide advice. The review is comprehensive, covering privacy and crypto regulations, among other topics.  This information is used to tailor operations to local laws.
  • The review was conducted in Kenya, and it was determined that Worldcoin was legal there.
  • The contributor team at Tools for Humanity (TFH) later was awarded registration as a Data Controller with Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC), a process where TFH gave ODPC descriptions of the personal data being processed and of the safeguards around that data. You can view that by searching “Tools” in this Government Registry: https://tinyurl.com/ODPCReg.
  • Worldcoin is completely private and always will be. Worldcoin does not and never will sell any user personal data (link) or use it for marketing purposes.
  • Learn more about Worldcoin’s privacy-preserving technology here.
  • World App. You don’t need to enter any personal information to get or use World App, the first wallet built for the Worldcoin project. This means no name, no phone number, no email, no social profile, no selfie, no passport, etc.
  • World ID. Anyone can use World ID without providing personal information such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, social profiles, etc. Everything is optional. No personal data is disclosed by default, enabling anonymous actions.
  • Worldcoin never collects any biometric data from any user without that user’s explicit consent. 
  • A person’s images are processed exclusively on the Orb and promptly deleted after an iris code is created, unless a person explicitly opts into Data Custody. 
  • Data Custody entails images being sent off-device to Worldcoin, to be processed for the purpose of ongoing improvement of our system. A user can revoke this consent to Data Custody at any time, either in the World App or at the Request Portal found at worldcoin.org/requestportal. 
  • Learn more about Worldcoin Data Custody options here.
  • Worldcoin is 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. Their mission is to create a globally-inclusive identity and financial network.
  • The Worldcoin Foundation serves to support and grow the community until it becomes self-sufficient. The Foundation is a type of non-profit, an exempted limited guarantee foundation company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. It is “memberless,” meaning it has no owners or shareholders.According to the DAO Research Collective, this is the most common structure currently in use by protocols and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). More information about the Foundation, including its founding documents, can be viewed at: https://www.worldcoin.foundation/about.
  • Tools for Humanity (TFH) is a Delaware (U.S.) corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California, with a wholly-owned subsidiary, Tools for Humanity GmbH based in Germany. It supported Worldcoin’s multi-year testing phase and, today, continues to operate World App.
  • Globally, public interest in Worldcoin exceeded expectations when it launched on July 24, 2023. In Kenya, at times this overwhelming demand led to technical challenges in World App and resulted in thousands of people waiting in long lines to secure a “proof of personhood”-verified World ID.
  • Perhaps because of the attention, the public had questions about Worldcoin: what are the intentions behind Worldcoin? Does Worldcoin comply with local regulations? How is personal data treated? 
  • Questions from Kenya’s regulators and politicians followed, and TFH was directed to pause World ID verifications while their questions were addressed.
  • As contributors to Worldcoin, the Foundation and TFH remain committed to addressing these questions and providing transparent, factual information to regulators, politicians and the people of Kenya. More than anything, they look forward to resuming  services and Worldcoin to more Kenyans soon.
  • Today, Worldcoin is available in over 20 countries including Germany, Japan, Spain, Uganda and the United States. According to the World Bank, roughly 84% of the world’s population resides in low and middle income countries. Meanwhile, the proportion of total verified Worldcoin users (users on World App with an Orb-verified World ID) coming from low and middle income countries is less than that, at approximately 70%.  The project does not target activities based on certain socio-economic conditions. It aims to reach everyone.
  • Worldcoin is built for privacy and inclusivity, and had a notable presence in major Nairobi malls like The Hub, Sarit Center, and Two Rivers, catering to a diverse audience from all walks of life.
  • Worldcoin actively participated in industry events like ETH Safari, Data Privacy and Governance Society of Kenya, and ID4Africa, attracting a varied audience well versed in, and excited about, digital identity and crypto projects.
  • Worldcoin's educational workshops, notably at Strathmore University, demonstrated a commitment to reaching and educating a diverse youth audience, including among aspiring young professionals.
  • Worldcoin's platform is free, inclusive and designed to welcome every human, regardless of background, and as a result has attracted a diverse audience in Kenya and many other countries around the world.