As debates surrounding the collection of biometric data and digital ID systems continue to foment, Evin McMullen, co-founder of Privado ID — a decentralized blockchain ID system — told Cointelegraph that offering financial incentives for personal data violates informed consent.
According to the executive, individuals in emerging market economies are particularly impacted by financial incentives in return for providing biometric data to firms. McMullen added:
“Paying people directly for biometric data in challenging economic circumstances, or individuals who might be in challenging economic circumstances, is tantamount to coercion. It’s not consent.”
Multiple governments have voiced data safety and ethical concerns over the collection of biometric data in their countries, which has led to governments banning or placing restrictions on digital ID systems harvesting data from residents.
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World ID project banned in multiple countries
State regulators in multiple countries have taken legal action against World, formerly known as Worldcoin, leading to suspensions or bans in most cases.
World provides proof of personhood by scanning an individual’s iris at one of the project’s 1,482 orbs, scattered throughout 695 locations.
Kenya was the first country to ban Worldcoin in August 2023 — citing data security and privacy concerns.
In March 2024, Spain ordered Worldcoin to stop collecting data after the Agency for the Protection of Data (AEPD) accused the company of collecting biometric data from minors.
That same month, Portugal suspended Worldcoin for three months while the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) investigated the project and its iris-scanning technology.
In May 2024, after an investigation by the Hong Kong Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD), the government ordered Worldcoin to stop operating in the country.
The PCPD claimed the company collected facial images, which were not necessary for proving personhood, and therefore violated the Personal Data Privacy Ordinance (PDPO).
More recently, in January 2025, Brazil banned World and ordered the company to stop providing crypto to users in exchange for their biometric data.
The National Data Protection Authority (ANPD), Brazil’s data regulator, said that offering crypto or financial incentives to acquire the data compromised informed consent for the collection of sensitive information.
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