2 million eyes scanned for cryptocurrency

The Worldcoin project has been touring through major cities such as Barcelona, ​​New York and Berlin for months. In tow: skull-sized metal balls. Orbs that the project uses to perform iris scans worldwide. Two million people have now had their eyes scanned, according to Worldcoin, which was co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. 40,000 are added every week. After the success of ChatGPT and the hype it triggered about AI technologies, interest in the project seems to be growing. And not just privacy concerns.

Keep your eyes open when choosing crypto

It takes about a minute, after which you are registered, part of the new crypto movement Worldcoin. Those who look deep into the dark Orb create a digital identity, the “World ID”. The digital proof is intended to replace the provision of sensitive information, such as telephone numbers. The associated app includes a wallet that will be used in the future to pay with the cryptocurrency “Worldcoin”. The project is currently in the beta phase.

The motives behind it sound noble at first. The goal is a “more humane economic system”. The identity protocol “World ID” is intended to “enable people to prove their uniqueness and humanity in a digital way”. Worldcoin promises financial inclusion, a little prosperity for all. There is also talk of an unconditional basic income.

But not unconditionally. No World ID without an iris scan. The company promises the highest data protection requirements. The biometric data would be converted into a cryptographic code, the iris hash, using the “zero-knowledge-proofs” encryption technique. He should no longer be able to be assigned to a person backwards. According to Worldcoin, private data is not stored.

Blind trust

Criticism of the mega project was loud from the start. Whether the personal data can be protected, as Worldcoin states, cannot be guaranteed at this point in time. Edward Snowden warned: “You save the hashes generated by the scans – hashes that match future scans”. And warns: “Don’t catalog eyeballs”.

The MIT Technology Review also warned of the unforeseeable consequences of mass data collection: “We found that the company’s representatives engaged in deceptive marketing practices, collected more personal data than they admitted and failed to obtain meaningful informed consent”. Technical details are also deliberately kept secret.

Worldcoin pusher columns

Worldcoin’s approach to promoting iris scans is also questionable. According to the MIT Technology Review, recruitment was initially mainly in emerging African countries. People are said to have been lured with giveaways and up to $25 in cash in hand money – in Worldcoin, which doesn’t exist yet. Recruitment is on a commission basis, paid in Tether USDT.

“Reaching two million World ID logins is not only an achievement for the Worldcoin community, but also a significant milestone in the global effort to make digitally verifiable identities accessible to all,” writes Worldcoin. You have to turn a blind eye to the methods.