ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo implicated the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) in the operation of WorldCoin in the country.
Appearing before the Parliament ad-hoc committee probing Worldcoin’s operations in the country, Owalo indicated that the commission was aware that the cryptocurrency firm had not met data protection requirements.
Owalo added that the agents who collected data on behalf of WorldCoin were also not registered by the commission.
The CS further pointed an accusing finger at the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner arguing that Worldcoin began collecting data in Kenya in May 2021 only for the commission to learn this a year later.
“It is a matter of profound concern, even to us at the Ministry that while Worldcoin started collecting data in public places in May 2021, this fact only became known to ODPC in April 2022, (almost a year later), and to the Ministry and other Government officials towards the end of July 2023, after this became a matter of grave public concern,” Owalo stated.
“This speaks to surveillance needs of broader concern, going far beyond what any institution could do in isolation,” he added.
To avert the recurrence of such incidents, Owalo told the committee that the Ministry of ICT was proposing amendments to help govern the office of the Data Commissioner.
“It is clear from the provisions of the Data Protection Act that the framework for corporate governance for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is weak. The office of the ODPC is an independent state office as described under article 260 (q) of the Constitution. The Act does not provide for a Board, or a similar authority, to which the Data Commissioner reports or accounts in its daily operations,” the CS insisted.
“To address this issue of governance, we will be proposing amendments along the models of Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) created under the Kenya Information and Communications Act, 1998 or the Media Council of Kenya (MCK),” he added.
On her part, Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait called on lawmakers to review the Data Protection Act, 2019, and its regulations to address the gaps in the legal framework.
Their sentiments came after WorldCoin refuted allegations that scanning of the iris had some medical implications. WorldCoin insisted that the machine used was universally accepted.
