MercadoLibre—Brazilian consumer group Idec asked federal prosecutors to investigate Mercado Livre/Mercado Pago's mandatory facial recognition requirement for account access
Brazilian consumer-defense institute Idec filed a request with the Ministerio Publico Federal (MPF) asking it to investigate Mercado Livre and Mercado Pago's requirement that sellers and couriers submit to facial biometric verification to access or keep their accounts active, with no alternative authentication method offered. Idec argued the practice risks digitally excluding users whose recognition fails due to device quality, lighting, age, disability, or phenotypic characteristics, and sought disclosure of the company's data protection impact assessment, audits of the biometric system, and information on account-blocking and human-review processes, plus referrals to Brazil's data protection authority (ANPD), the Central Bank, and consumer agency Senacon. Mercado Pago said it had not been notified of the investigation request and defended its use of facial recognition. Idec separately launched a public campaign, 'Quem ve cara, nao ve permissao,' calling for ANPD regulation of private-sector biometric data use.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Protection | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.483 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.64)
Evidence (2 signals)
CNN Brasil reported Idec's MPF complaint over Mercado Livre's mandatory facial recognition
CNN Brasil reported that Idec asked federal prosecutors to investigate Mercado Livre and Mercado Pago over requiring facial biometric verification for account access, citing digital exclusion risks and lack of alternative authentication.
Idec's official statement detailing its MPF complaint against Mercado Livre/Mercado Pago facial recognition requirement
Idec's own press statement laid out the complaint's demands: disclosure of the company's facial-biometry data protection impact assessment, audits of validation failures, referrals to ANPD/Central Bank/Senacon, and potential remedies including mandatory alternative authentication methods.