They believe that the process of personal data that WorldCoin carries is “particularly serious.”
Worldcoin has been questioned practically throughout Latin America.
Brazil ordered the WorldCoin cryptocurrency project to stop scanning the iris of Brazilians. The National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) formally applied a preventive measure to the Tools for Humanity (TFH) company, a project developer, and forced him to suspend the payment of tokens in exchange for scanning the iris of the Brazilians.
The order It seeks to suspend the supply of cryptocurrencies or any other financial compensation for the collection of iris of those interested in Brazil. This measure is based on a Concern about the processing of personal datathat the ANPD considers “particularly serious.” The entity also ordered TFH to indicate on its website the identification of the person responsible for the processing of personal data.
The decision is made after the ANPD initiated investigations to analyze the processing of biometric data in Worldcoin, now known simply as World, in November 2024.
At that time, it was determined that the payment of tokens WLD to those who scan “can hinder the obtaining of the consent of the holder of personal data”, which must be “informed, unequivocal and lend itself specifically and outstandingly, for specific purposes ”, According to that office.
In addition, the ANPD determined that the payment of WLD tokens “can interfere with the free expression of the will of the people, by influencing the decision on the disposition of their biometric data, especially in cases where the potential vulnerability and hyposfficiency allow even greater the weight of the payment offered ”.
The office considered that the processing of the data “turned out to be particularly serious, considering the use of sensitive personal data and the impossibility of eliminating the biometric data collected, in addition to the irreversibility of the revocation of the consent.”
“Given this, the inspection applied a preventive measure to TFH, which enters into force on January 25,” said the ANPD.
With this action, Brazil joins a list of Latin American countries that have shown skepticism about Worldcoin’s practices. In Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, World operations have been questionedas has been reported by cryptootics.
Concern is not limited to Latin America; Worldcoin has also raised suspicions in other nations such as Spain and Portugal, in addition to Kenya, South Korea and Hong Kong. These jurisdictions have expressed similar concerns about privacy and the ethics of biometric data processing and the use of financial incentives for collection.
The measure of the ANPD in Brazil is a reflection of a global tendency towards a greater regulation of biometric data collection technologies, especially When these practices can compromise privacy and the informed consent of individuals.
