Singapore’s authorities have opened an investigation into seven people in connection with unauthorized Worldcoin (WLD) wallets and tokens.
Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong made this declaration on Monday due to the possibility of a violation of the Payment Services (PS) Act 2019. This act regulates payment services within the country for safety and compliance.
Singapore Investigates Illegal Worldcoin Account Trading
In her reply to MPs Rachel Ong and Derrick Goh, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong provided more information on the inquiry. Ong pointed out that, as per the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Worldcoin is not a payment service. However, he did say that trading its accounts might be against the act.
This, therefore, led to the current investigation of the said activities. The minister called on people to be careful not to let anyone take over their digital payment token wallet and World IDs.
Also last month, the Singapore Police Force arrested five people for similar crimes. Early evidence points to these suspects as having been luring others to open Worldcoin accounts. After that, they took over these accounts for monetary reward.
More than 200 mobile phones were seized in the course of these arrests. This shows the extent of the exercise and the determination of the authorities to ensure that such conduct is checked.
Global Scrutiny Over Privacy Concerns
Worldcoin, founded by Sam Altman, Max Novendstern, and Alex Blania, is planning to initiate a global digital identity. This would distinguish people from machines with an iris scan. Nevertheless, biometric data gathering has not been exempt from privacy concerns in many countries.
These countries include France, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Colombia, and Argentina, which have all opened investigations into companies’ privacy practices. Nevertheless, Worldcoin has remained keen on complying with local privacy regulations.
In Germany, the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision most recently examined Worldcoin’s activity related to the processing of biometric data. Hong Kong and Spain have gone further, with Hong Kong ruling that the platform breaches local privacy laws while Spain suspends its operations on regulatory grounds.
However, there was a positive note in Malaysia, where Worldcoin’s iris scanning was embraced even though there are different perceptions of the use of biometric data and privacy worldwide.
While the investigation continues, the Singapore authorities continue to stress the importance of complying with rules and protecting consumers in digital finance. Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong was once again very clear in his message:
“We caution consumers against doing so,”
highlighting possible dangers of transferring control of digital identification and financial tokens.
