Worldcoin is a new cryptocurrency linked to delicate biometric data from people in developing countries(Africa and Asian mostly) It certainly seems like a bad idea. The reason they’ve decided to harvest data from developing countries is because most these countries lack basic understanding of how much worth their data has. They think the benefit($60) outweighs the risk of taking the eye scan. Here’s a quote: “Most alarming to me is how the WorldCoin team has boasted about how many users they have. When in reality they have been exploiting people in developing countries,” tweeted pseudonymous crypto influencer ZachXBT. Worldcoin received funding from by Sam Bankman-Fried, the notorious founder of failed crypto exchange FTX.
Worldcoin will need to compile a sizable iris data database. However, not everyone wants to look into an orb. At least during the bootstrapping phase, you had to pay folks to have their eyes scanned. Worldcoin then turned to the developing world, which has the cheapest eyes, and engaged in a sinister game of “what will people do for money?”
This deployment method has a clear result: a black market for confirmed credentials. A World ID now appears to be available for as little as $30. Therefore, anyone with more than $30 can obtain many digital identities (although Worldcoin is aware of this problem and has made suggestions to address it). It’s a challenging puzzle to link actual persons to digital identities.
This is not fixed by worldcoin. Nothing in the design can stop professional sybil attackers from using dubious tactics to gather eyes on the bottom level, thus it’s unlikely that it ever will.
This makes it difficult to have trust in the system’s creators. Yet what they demand is confidence. The advertising for Worldcoin is replete with assurances that private biometric data will be deleted, concealed from prying eyes, or used in lawful ways only. We are gathering and securely keeping more data during our field-testing phase than we will once it is complete, according to one blog post (quoted here; the original appears to have been edited since first distribution). Once our algorithms are properly trained, we will destroy all the biometric information we have gathered while doing field testing.
“Trust us,” in other words. “We’ll totally delete the eyeball database.” Most of these companies rarely delete private data instead they sell data to other companies.
The privacy guarantees made by Worldcoin are coupled with dazzling technological details. We’re informed that zero-knowledge proofs will save the day and enable individuals to demonstrate their humanity without linking any specific financial behavior to a World ID or any related transactions.
There is some truth to this. Zero-knowledge proofs are capable of producing remarkable privacy assurances. However, they are more theatrical than substantive in the case of Worldcoin marketing. Long blog entries about zero-knowledge proofs divert attention from, but do not actually solve, the issue of Worldcoin asking for users’ trust.
The repercussions of linking unchangeable biological characteristics to money could be dystopian.
Imagine that your online identity has been compromised in some way, perhaps by being blocked or shut down by the government due to non-compliance. You can always create a new wallet and store some new coins in it for traditional currency and other cryptocurrencies. However, this is not Minority Report, and your local doctor cannot give you a new iris.
It’s over for you once your immutable digital identity is locked — just think of the shops that won’t accept your coins without a digital signature revealing your World ID. no previous account. No fresh account. For you, no soup. You just lost your online identity.
Worldcoin is no radical new financial system, and certainly not one aimed at equality or fairness.
It’s just more of the same, but with extra data harvesting steps.
Stay away from Orb!
Some articles to help you understand more worldcoin