Reuters: London A senior official for the company behind the project told Reuters that Worldcoin will expand its operations to sign up additional people globally and hopes to let other organizations utilize its iris-scanning and identity-verifying technology.
Worldcoin, which was co-founded by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, went live last week. As part of efforts to build an “identity and financial network,” users had to submit iris scans in exchange for a digital ID and, in some countries, free bitcoin.
People have been having their faces scanned by a shiny, spherical “orb” at sign-up sites all across the world, dismissing privacy advocates’ worries that the biometric data might be exploited. According to Worldcoin, 2.2 million people have registered, mainly during a trial period over the last two years. Data watchdogs in Germany, France, and Britain have indicated that they are investigating the scheme.
General Manager for Europe at Tools For Humanity, the San Francisco and Berlin-based business behind the project, Ricardo Macieira said, “We are on this mission to build the biggest financial and identity community that we can.”
In a May funding round, Worldcoin raised $115 million from investors in venture capital firms like Blockchain Capital, A16Z Crypto, Bain Capital Crypto, and Distributed Global.
Continually expanding its operations, according to Macieira, is Worldcoin’s plan for Europe, Latin America, Africa, and “all the parts of the world that will accept us.”
The Worldcoin website lists a number of potential uses, although these outcomes are not assured. These include separating humans from artificial intelligence, facilitating “global democratic processes,” and illuminating a “potential path” to universal basic income.
The majority of those surveyed by Reuters last week at sign-up sites in Britain, India, and Japan said they joined to get the 25 free Worldcoin tokens that the company claims verified users are eligible for.
“I don’t believe that we will be producing universal basic income. We would be quite glad if we could build the infrastructure necessary for governments or other organizations to do so.
For instance, if a coffee shop wants to give everyone one free coffee, Worldcoin’s technology could be used to ensure that customers do not claim more than one coffee without the company needing to collect personal data, according to Macieira. Companies may pay Worldcoin to use its digital identity system.
The plan is to make the technology available to additional third parties as we develop the infrastructure.
The iris-scanning orb’s technology will eventually be open-source, Macieira stated.
“The idea is that anyone can build their own orb in the future and use it to benefit the community that it’s aiming for,” he said.
PRIVACY QUESTIONS
Concerns concerning Worldcoin’s data collection have been raised by regulators and privacy advocates, including whether users are providing informed consent and whether only one corporation should be in charge of handling the data.
According to the Worldcoin website, the initiative is “completely private,” and users can choose to have their biometric data removed or encryptedly retained.
Because Tools For Humanity has a location in the EU, the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision, which has jurisdiction there, stated that it began looking into Worldcoin in November 2022 due to worries about its extensive processing of private data.
Whether the Worldcoin system is “safe and stable” will be investigated, according to Michael Will, president of the Bavarian regulator.
To ensure that the needs for data privacy are met, the project “requires very, very ambitious security measures and lots of explanations and transparency,” Will added.
Will said that those who provide their data must have “absolute clarity” about how and why it is used.
Worldcoin’s use of technology, according to Rainer Rehak, a researcher on AI and society at the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin, is irresponsible,” and it is unclear what issues it will address.
The creation of a new consumer base for Web3 and crypto products is a significant effort, he said. The term “Web3” refers to a fictitious, blockchain-based third phase of the internet in which user assets and data are exchangeable crypto assets.
In response to worries over privacy, the Worldcoin Foundation, a Cayman Islands-based organization, stated in a statement that it complies with all laws controlling personal data and would keep working with governing bodies to provide information about its data protection and privacy policies.
