Brazil’s data protection authority has ordered Tools for Humanity to stop offering crypto rewards for biometric data collection through World ID.
Brazil’s data protection agency has told the World ID project to stop giving crypto or cash rewards for collecting people’s biometric data.
On January 24, the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) ordered Tools for Humanity (TFH), the company behind the eye-scanning crypto project World Network, to stop its activities in Brazil. The instruction came after a probe that started in November when World ID was introduced in Brazil.
The enforcement section of the ANPD said that paying people with cryptocurrency might weaken the trustworthiness of consent when gathering sensitive biometric information.
World Network was started in 2019 by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. It uses iris scans to create a worldwide digital identity. Brazilian law requires that people clearly agree to the use of their private data, that their agreement is free, and that it is for a specific reason.
The ANPD is worried that financial rewards could unfairly pressure vulnerable people, especially since collecting personal data cannot be undone. They mentioned problems with deleting the collected info.
Last December, Germany’s data authority stepped in to make changes to the project to ensure it follows the EU’s data protection rules.
The WLF token, used by the World Network, fell over 8% in the last 24 hours and is now 83% lower than its highest price of $11.74 reached in March 2023.