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Brazilian regulators found that the world network, formerly worldcoin, could influence the consent of users by offering financial incentives for collecting biometric data.
According to a watchdog for data protection in Brazil, the National Data Protection Office compromise The validity of the consent, as offered by financial compensation – for example, his native ecosystem WorldCoin (WLD) – may disproportionately influence individuals, especially persons under vulnerable circumstances.
For the context, the World Network is aimed at creating a universal digital identity and financial system by verifying individuals as unique human beings through Iris scanning with its proprietary “ORB” technology.
The project, which was founded in 2019 by the CEO of Openai Sam Altman and developed by Tools for Humanity, has expanded to provide greater digital security and facilitate fair access to resources at the age of artificial intelligence.
However, ANPD believes that the project’s approach to obtaining consent through financial incentives is problematic and has banned tools for humanity to offer such compensation for collecting biometric data in accordance with data protection laws in Brazil.
These laws require that the consent be free, informed, unambiguous and explicitly provided for specific purposes, in particular when handling sensitive personal data such as biometrics.
The restriction came into force on 25 January after the investigation started in November 2024, shortly after the project started in Brazil. Regulatory bodies also raised concerns about how World Network processes user data, especially the irreversible nature of the collection of biometric data.
Although Sam Altman has co -founded the company, its obligation to secure privacy and data emphasized through measures such as data minimization, data control over data, IRIS code removal and secure calculations with multiple parties, which did not save it from regulatory pressures across via regulatory pressures across Globe .
Especially, the Hong Kong regulators raised similar concerns last year and called for a violation of local data protection laws. The Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data for personal data called WorldCoin’s data collection of “unnecessary and excessive”, remarking that he lacks transparency.
The regulators criticized the project for not providing in Chinese the protection of personal data and the consent forms and for insufficient informing the participants of their rights to access and correct their data. As a result, the World Network was asked by the end of May 2024 to stop all operations in Hong Kong.
The project faced similar limitation in other regions, including Germany, Spain and Kenya. Nevertheless, he continued to expand his offers by launching the World Mainnet chain along with upgrading for his World App and the Orb device.
