Kenyan court orders Worldcoin to delete iris and face data

Company: Tools for Humanity (Worldcoin)
Regulator or court: High Court of Kenya (with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner supervising deletion)
Law: Data Protection Act, 2019
Status: Complied – ODPC confirmed deletion (January 2026)

What happened

In a case brought by the Katiba Institute, the High Court found Worldcoin had collected Kenyans' iris and facial data in 2023 without valid consent and without the required data protection impact assessment. It ordered the data deleted within seven days under the data commissioner's supervision. The data commissioner confirmed in January 2026 that the deletion had been done.

Sources

Citizen Digital – Court orders Worldcoin to delete biometric data Techpoint Africa – Worldcoin deletes Kenyans' data

Summary in our own words. General information, not legal advice.

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