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By paying people to process their biometric data, the company was found to potentially interfere with their ability to give consent freely.
Brazil’s data protection watchdog, ANPD, has banned the Sam Altman-owned Tools for Humanity (TFH) from offering payment for iris scanning in the country, and has demanded that the company indicate on its website who processes the collected personal data.
According to a web-translated order from the Brazilian data protection authority, which began its inspection into the company in November 2024, offering monetary compensation through cryptocurrency for iris scans might hinder individuals from freely giving consent for the scan to the company. Under the country’s General Personal Data Protection Law, consent for processing sensitive personal data such as biometric data, must be free and informed.
The preventative ban, which took effect last Saturday (25 January), also comes as TFH does not delete the data it has collected, while also not allowing for consent, once given, to be withdrawn, the watchdog said. However, as of today (27 January), the company still lists Brazil as one the 20 countries it provides its scanning services in.
TFH was founded by Altman, Max Novendstern and Alex Blania in 2019. The company owns Worldcoin – renamed to World Network – that started as a crypto project aimed at distributing a crypto token to people in exchange for a scan of their irises, which, the company collects through an ‘Orb’, or a centre where individuals can scan their faces and eyes in a “secure manner”.
According to Altman and his co-founder Blania, the overall aim of these eyeball scans is to create digital IDs for people with biometric verification through which they can control their World cryptocurrency wallet.
The company’s practices have come under scrutiny before now. World was hit with a temporary ban in Portugal last year over reports that it was collecting biometric data from minors in the country without their parent’s authorisation, while Spain also issued a temporary ban to stop the company from collecting and processing personal data.
In Germany, where the TFH is co-headquartered alongside the US, the Bavarian data protection authority has been investigating the biometric scanning company since 2022. In late 2024, the authorities issued corrective measures to the company, providing users the “unrestricted opportunity” to erase their data in line with European data protection laws. The company must adhere to this ruling throughout Europe when processing personal data.
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Updated, 12:09 pm, 27 January 2024: This article was amended to accurately reflect that Brazil banned Tools for Humanity from issuing monetary compensation for iris scans. Brazil has not banned Tools for Humanity from the country.
