São Paulo Sues World and Amazon AWS for $47 Million Over Biometric Data Collection
The Consumer Prosecutor’s Office of São Paulo has filed a lawsuit against Tools for Humanity, the company behind World (formerly Worldcoin), and Amazon Web Services (AWS) over alleged abusive collection of biometric data. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, seeks 240 million reais (nearly $47 million) in compensation for over 400,000 consumers who participated in World’s iris scanning program in the city.
The prosecution alleges that World deliberately targeted economically vulnerable populations by concentrating its operations in peripheral and high-traffic areas, offering crypto rewards in exchange for biometric data. A report by the Iris Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) found several irregularities, including the deliberate concentration of offers in low-income regions to attract people facing socioeconomic issues.
The complaint also claims that World continued to provide these rewards via internal app transactions even after Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) ordered the suspension of such payments in February 2025. Additionally, the lawsuit accuses World of failing to inform consumers about the economic purpose of the project and the risks associated with storing their biometric data on AWS servers.
The consumer prosecutor’s office demands the preservation of all collected data and metadata, and a halt to any payments or benefits linked to biometric data collection until a full assessment is conducted. The legal action seeks to label these activities as abusive.
World has defended its practices, stating on its website that it “does not collect, store or sell any personal data, including iris data, and verified World ID holders are anonymous.” The company has faced similar legal actions in other jurisdictions. In Argentina, World was fined $200,000 for violations including allowing minors to enroll due to lax ID checks and failing to disclose its data-processing procedures.
The lawsuit in São Paulo is part of a broader global scrutiny of biometric data collection by cryptocurrency projects. The outcome could set a precedent for how such initiatives are regulated in Brazil and beyond.