Sam Altman—São Paulo prosecutors sued Altman's Tools for Humanity (World/Worldcoin) and AWS Brazil for R$240M over iris scans of 400,000 vulnerable residents
On July 21, 2026, the São Paulo Public Ministry (MPSP) filed a civil lawsuit against Tools for Humanity Corporation (operator of Sam Altman's World ID/Worldcoin project) and Amazon AWS Servicos Brasil, seeking a minimum R$240 million in collective moral damages. The suit alleges Tools for Humanity scanned the irises of more than 400,000 people in Sao Paulo -- concentrated at metro stations and Poupatempo government-service offices in low-income peripheral areas -- paying R$300-700 per scan while presenting the effort as a humanitarian identity initiative without disclosing its economic purpose tied to Worldcoin cryptocurrency. Prosecutors say the company continued offering compensation through 'internal benefits' in the World App even after Brazil's data protection authority (ANPD) ordered a suspension of paid iris collection in January 2025. AWS Brasil, named as co-defendant for hosting the biometric data, did not deny the hosting contract but said any responsibility would lie with AWS's foreign entity. The case follows a 161-page report from a Sao Paulo City Council inquiry (CPI da Iris) finding the operation posed high legal, social and data-protection risks.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Protection | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.664 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
MP de São Paulo sued Tools for Humanity and AWS Brasil for R$240M over iris scans of 400,000 people
Major Brazilian outlets reported that the Sao Paulo Public Ministry filed a civil lawsuit against Tools for Humanity Corporation and Amazon AWS Servicos Brasil on July 21, 2026, seeking at least R$240 million in damages over the collection of iris biometric data from more than 400,000 people, concentrated among economically vulnerable populations, and continued compensation-based collection after a January 2025 ANPD suspension order.