Alleged former Worldcoin employee says they’re in contact with authorities

• An individual claiming to be a former employee of Worldcoin has alleged that the human identity verification project may have engaged in illegal activities during their tenure.
• In a YouTube video, the individual, known as Nadir Hajarabi, stated that they witnessed “questionable” activities at Worldcoin and decided to leave the project before its token launch on July 24.
• Hajarabi claimed that the organization was withholding some of their pay and that they were in contact with authorities in different jurisdictions as part of investigations into Worldcoin.
• The individual also criticized the project’s execution, stating that corners were cut before the release of the white paper, and that they had raised concerns with the Worldcoin CEO and legal team but did not receive satisfactory answers.
• Cointelegraph was unable to independently verify Hajarabi’s claims.

An image posted on X appeared to show Hajarabi with one of Worldcoin’s iris-scanning orbs. The individual’s YouTube channel, created in 2013, featured only one video making allegations against Worldcoin. A LinkedIn page connected to the same individual in the video indicated their experience in nonfungible tokens and web3 projects.

Worldcoin aims to distinguish real people from bots using retinal scans for identity verification. Prior to the launch of its token in July, the project received over 2 million sign-ups.

The project has faced criticism and investigations regarding privacy concerns over user data. The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision and the French National Commission on Informatics and Liberty reportedly initiated investigations into Worldcoin’s data collection methods, while the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK raised similar concerns.

Kenya’s minister of internal security suspended Worldcoin’s local operations for assessment, including a raid and seizure of equipment, and Argentina’s Agency for Access to Public Information announced an investigation into the collection, storage, and use of customer data by Worldcoin.