Chilean court orders World ID app to delete teen’s biometric data
Date: 2025-01-14 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: IN WORLD
Lagos said his daughter used the World ID app, which creates a unique digital ID by scanning her iris. He said the data was obtained without his consent, which violates the rights of minors. The lawyer stressed that such procedures are unacceptable for people under 18, since they cannot give informed consent on their own.
“A minor does not have the right to consent to the use of biometric data, such as iris scanning. Even fingerprinting requires parental consent. World’s actions are contrary not only to Chilean law, but also to international standards,” Lagos said.
A lower court had previously ruled that the data collection was illegal, but rejected the lawsuit. However, the Supreme Court decided to review the case and issued a ruling requiring World to delete the girl’s biometric information from the Worldcoin and World App databases. The company was given 30 days to comply with the court’s decision and notify the authority that initially heard the case.
According to World, by 2023, more than 200,000 Chileans have used World ID verification, which is about 1% of the country’s population. Meanwhile, the project has faced criticism outside of Chile. For example, in Germany, the Bavarian State Data Protection Office (BayLDA) has ordered the company to delete biometric information of local users.
World claims that customer data is securely protected thanks to updated storage systems. However, legal disputes continue to raise questions about privacy and the ethics of biometric data collection.
