Worldcoin, a digital identity project co-founded by Sam Altman the CEO of OpenAI, has to make a big decision now. Worldcoin must cease to provide cryptocurrency as a reward for eye scans, Brazil’s data protection authority, the National Data Protection Authority, ordered. This rule started on January 25, 2025.
Special eye scans are used with World Network, formerly Worldcoin, to verify people’s identity to create what it calls a global digital identity system. In exchange for their scans, people were also awarded in cryptocurrency known as WLF tokens. But the Brazilian government is skeptical this process could pressure people to give up their personal biometric data by simply giving them the financial rewards. This could affect people’s decisions, but particularly those of people in difficult situations when they feel they have no other option, the ANPD said.
The problem with offering financial compensation, such as crypto, the government says, is that it tends to make it harder for people to make free decisions about sharing sensitive data. Iris scans are permanent and cannot be ‘deleted’, so the ANPD wants to make sure people fully understand what they are agreeing to and that they give their consent freely, without coercion.
In Brazil, investigations began in November 2024 and led to this decision. Worldcoin must also be clear on its website regarding who is handling personal data to make the process more transparent for users, ANPD also said.
Worldcoin, however, says it is already working with the ANPD to resolve the issue and allow Brazilians to still be part of the project. The government wants these changes in order to protect privacy, but the company believes its service doesn’t break any Brazilian laws.
The same ban applies to Worldcoin’s own token, WLF, which immediately lost value in response to the news.
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