Brazil bans iris scan company co-founded by Sam Altman from paying citizens for biometric data
2025-1-27 18:45:50 Author: therecord.media(查看原文) 阅读量:0 收藏

Brazilian data privacy regulators say they are prohibiting Tools for Humanity (TFH), a biometric identity company co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, from paying citizens for iris scans.

TFH has been offering cryptocurrency to Brazilians who consent to the scans. The country’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) said on Friday that it determined such payments interfere with a person’s decision to grant consent for access to sensitive personal data. 

The ANPD also added a procedural hurdle for TFH, ordering the company to “indicate on its website the identification of the person responsible for processing personal data,” according to a translation. The agency said it began its investigation in November. The ban took effect on Saturday.

TFH’s business is designed to address the fact that it will become increasingly difficult to differentiate humans from AI creations online. Using what it calls an “orb,” the company captures users’ irises and provides unique identifiers people can use to prove they are human on the internet. 

ANPD said its investigation focused on understanding how the iris scans were being used to create what TFH calls a World ID. TFH claims the World ID will enhance digital security by allowing those who have been scanned to prove that they are human beings, the release said.

Under Brazil’s data protection law, consent requires users to give “free, informed [and] unequivocal” permission for their biometric data to be processed. The offer of financial incentives is particularly troubling “where potential vulnerability and insufficiency make the weight of the payment offered even greater,” the ANPD press release said.

A spokesperson for TFH, which has headquarters in San Francisco and Munich, Germany, said via email that its product is compliant with all laws and regulations in Brazil. 

“Recent inaccurate reports and social media activity has resulted in the ANPD having false information,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We are in contact with the ANPD and are confident we can work with them to ensure the continued ability of all Brazilians to fully participate in the World network.”

Editor's Note: Story updated 3:30 p.m. Eastern U.S. time with statement from TFH spokesperson.

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文章来源: https://therecord.media/brazil-iris-scan-data-privacy-tools-for-humanity
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