Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki on Thursday told Parliament that they have recovered devices that WorldCoin used to mine personal data in exchange for money.
WorldCoin was recently at the centre of controversy over its operations in collecting biometric data of Kenyans.
During the briefing, Kindiki also linked crypto and digital assets to money laundering, calling for more regulation on the sector.
Prof. Kindiki stated that cryptocurrency activities are directly related to money laundering and finances used to fund terrorism activities.
‘’There is a correlation between cryptocurrency, money laundering, and financing of terrorism. There exists a legal and regulatory gap in cyber security and cybercrime prevention in the Data Protection Act No. 18 of 2021,’’ stated Kindiki.
Kindiki noted that there is a task force that is developing regulations that will help the government counter cybercrime and tighten cyber security.
''Proposed regulations will help address gaps in cybersecurity and cybercrime prevention and give full effect to the Act,'' noted CS Kindiki.
Items recovered by the government were forty-eight (48) Orbs, electronic gadgets, and various merchandise used by Worldcon operators in running their activities in the country.
The items were used in harvesting biometric data through scanning of the iris which saw them give Ksh 7000 worth of worldcoin tokens.
The government has also seized documents and recorded 26 statements from witnesses as investigations into the company gather pace.
The Ministry Of Interior suspended Worldcoin operations in Kenya on August 2 over safety concerns, after it emerged that the company was collecting public data.
Kindiki 's cryptocurrency and money laundering statement come after the High Court on September 6 froze 6 million gift sent to 23-year-old student Felista Njoroge by her billionaire Belgian boyfriend and cryptocurrency trader, Merc De Mesel.
Lady Justice Diana Kavedza in her ruling, the Assets and Recovery Agency was allowed to recover the Ksh 6 million on grounds that it was a product of money laundering.
