Kenyans make up an astonishing 25% of Worldcoin’s customer base, the National Assembly Ad Hoc Committee of Inquiry has been told.
The committee is probing the operations of the Cryptocurrency firm in the country, where 350,000 Kenyans registered for World Coin in just under one week.
David Njoka, the Head of Cyber Security Standards and Policy at the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee, informed the committee that Worldcoin initially presented itself as a research institution before intensifying its data collection and processing operations.
Mr Njoka noted that the rapid pace at which Worldcoin was gaining acceptance in the country was notably concerning.
“We need to stop and look for a solution, 350,000 in one week is quite high,” he said.
Contrary to previous statements made by government officials, asserting that the data collected from Kenyans remained within the country and was secure, Njoka revealed that the data is actually stored on servers located in the United States of America.
“From our interviews they mentioned that the data was transferred to the Amazon servers based in the US. They had indicated that the data is secure but that needs deeper investigations,” Njoka said.
Njoka and his director, James Kimuyu, faced strong criticism from committee members for their perceived failure to fulfill their responsibilities and for allowing Worldcoin to operate unlawfully within the country.
“What is your role in registering and operationalisation of companies like Worldcoin?” Posed Dagoreti South MP John Kiarie.
Tetu MP Geoffrey Wandeto added: “We should be expecting proper answers to the questions that we ask because no one else can answer them. We need to amend the cybercrimes act and put in place a proper committee that has teeth to bite.”
