The provincial government of Buenos Aires has formally accused Worldcoin of breaching consumer laws through "abusive clauses" in its user agreement.

As per the notice, Worldcoin's alleged unfair agreement allows it to interrupt services without providing repair or reimbursement. Additionally, the government claims that Worldcoin obliges users to waive their rights to collective complaints and instead applies Cayman Island laws to residents of Argentina. Moreover, any disputes supposedly must be settled through arbitration in California, which allegedly violates Argentina’s Civil and Commercial Code.

The provincial government conducted audits on Worldcoin and raised two concerns. Firstly, the company lacks an age disclaimer notifying users that individuals under 18 cannot access the service. Secondly, Worldcoin stores private data about Argentine users internationally in Brazil, linking this issue to contradictory information about the "use, protection, and storage" of biometric data collected from the faces and eyes of Argentine users.

The government questions Worldcoin's ability to delete biometric data if required. If the charges are proven, Worldcoin could face a fine of up to 1 billion Argentine pesos ($1.2 million).

These allegations come after similar actions in the EU, where Spain and Portugal filed charges against Worldcoin addressing data collection from minors, user consent, and data ownership. Spain and Portugal imposed three-month data collection bans on Worldcoin. While Buenos Aires did not mention such a ban, it urged the company to adjust its terms to comply with regional regulations.

Despite controversy, Worldcoin asserted its operations' legality in March and announced transparency enhancements praised by Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin. Worldcoin, founded by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is supported by Tools for Humanity, a software and hardware development firm chaired by Altman.