World gets banned from paying Brazillians for iris scans

World, made by Tools for Humanity, has been banned from Brazil over its tactics for getting people to use its iris-scanning orb. The company, co-founded by OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, offers crypto payments in exchange for your biometric data.

It’s been banned as it could interfere with or influence a Brazilian person’s decision on handing over the data. According to The Economic Times, Tools for Humanity has been ordered to detail who exactly is processing the data, and has been investigating the company since November.

Tools for Humanity is aiming to create a digital ID built on the blockchain. The idea is that once it is written to the blockchain, it can’t ever be purged and would be a new solution for human verification services. While it has its supporters, countries like South Korea, Kenya, Spain, and Portugal have already questioned the safety and privacy of the concept.

As of writing, WorldCoin, the cryptocurrency that is paid to those who get scanned, is currently worth $1.86. It’s been on a downward slope for the last year, with the last 24 hours showing a decline from $2.10 to the current price. Checking dedicated forums finds a lot more conversation around the cryptocurrency tied to World, than the ID service and a lot of prospective hopes.

Tools for Humanity tour their Orb, a device that is as it sounds. It’s a metal, chrome orb that has an iris scanner to log your information. Once it completes the scan, your World ID is created and once the company can figure out where that idea fits in the world, should be able to be used.

However, uptake on using World as a form of ID has been slow. While the company has made the scan available in 682 locations and has toured with it in the past, not many major services currently allow for World ID to be used.

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