LONDON, July 31 Reuters A German data watchdog has been investigating OpenAI CEO Sam Altman39;s Worldcoin project since late last year due to concerns over its largescale processing of sensitive biometric data, the regulator39;s president told Reuters.

Worldcoin, which launched last week, requires users to give their iris scans in exchange for a digital ID and, in some countries, free cryptocurrency as part of plans to create a new identity and financial network.

The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision started investigating Worldcoin in November 2022 because of concerns that the project seeks to process sensitive data at a very large scale using new technology, Michael Will, the state regulator39;s president, told Reuters in emailed comments on Friday.

Will said the Bavarian state regulator is the lead authority investigating Worldcoin under the European Union39;s data protection rules because Tools For Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, has a German subsidiary there.

These technologies are at first sight neither established nor well analysed for the specific core purpose of the processing in the field of transferring financial information, Will said.

This leads to a number of risks, including whether users have given explicit consent to their highlysensitive biometric data being processed on the basis of sufficient and clear information, Will said.

Worldcoin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its website describes its…