Three university students have revealed that they were promised money to register for the WorldCoin.
Talking before the Ad hoc committee mandate to inquire about the company’s activities in the country, the students said they were misled into having their irises scanned without tangible payment.
Making their submissions before the joint Committee, two of the students stated that they encountered the Worldcoin staff on their university grounds.
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At the same time, the other had his eyes scanned at a local supermarket.
According to them, the promise of a 70 US Dollar grant was the motivation behind surrendering what now emerges as critical personal data to the foreign company that several state agencies have referred to as illegally operating in Kenya.
However, those of them who underwent the registration at the inception period in 2021 were never guided on how to convert the money from cryptocurrency to Kenyan shillings.
“They never told us where they were taking our data to, they only said the scanning was meant to confirm that we are human, and to show you are the sole owner of the application Worldcoin so others could not access it.” Said Bruce Bogita, a student at the Kenya School of Law.
Stating that the compensation they received was not consistent with what they had been promised by the recruiting agents, the victims complained to the MPs of having traded their data for much less.
“They also lied to me that they would pay me Ksh7,000 but only sent me an equivalent of Ksh2,000, after which I developed eye complications, and I have had to get prescription spectacles,” said Miruoba Marube, a student at Kenyatta University.
The students also revealed that most of their colleagues registered with the company as early as the year 2021, indicating that many of those whose information was harvested by Worldcoin were university students.
“Most of us agreed to have our eyes scanned because of the financial motivation and the fact that they were stationed within our learning institutions, and we did not have to do much to get the promised grant, although it was in cryptocurrency.” Stated Bernard Ochieng’, a student at the Technical University of Kenya.
He told the legislators that the recruiting agent told them they would earn Ksh7,000 simply after scanning their eyes and downloading an App.
The three told the Committee that they have since faced social stigma based on social media reactions to the reported scans.
They added that they would not want the Data harvesting by Worldcoin to continue since they have already suffered the consequences, and there is no clarity on what their data is being used for by the foreigners.
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