Indonesia suspends eye-scanning Worldcoin crypto project

JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities said they have suspended Worldcoin, the eyeball-scanning cryptocurrency project co-founded by OpenAI chief Sam Altman under scrutiny in several countries. Since Worldcoin launched in 2023, millions of people have had their iris patterns scanned to create a "World ID", proving they are human and allowing them to conduct transactions. The data is encrypted and safe, according to Worldcoin, but it has run into trouble over concerns about the use of personal data including in Hong Kong, Kenya, Spain and Portugal. Indonesia's suspension, announced yesterday, followed reports from the public over suspicious activities on the platform, a communication and digital ministry official said. "The freezing is a preventive measure to prevent potential risk to the public," said Alexander Sabar, the ministry's director general for digital space supervision. The gover...