We need to talk about Worldcoin and the importance of identity

Yesterday I had a very interesting conversation with Alex Blania, co-founder along with Sam Altman and Max Novendstern of Tools for Humanity, the company that develops the technology behind the Worldcoin project, which I have written about on a couple of occasions.

Alex is the head of technology strategy, development and execution, and is the most visible face of the project, given that Sam Altmann is engaged in many more projects, notably OpenA, and that Max Novendstern left WorldCoin last year to develop other related projects, although he remains as an advisor.

Our conversation revolved around the challenges of the controversial biometric identity project, principally its commitment to privacy — as it says on its website: “Worldcoin doesn’t want to know who you are, just that you’re unique.”

Acquiring a Worldcoin digital identity involves having one’s iris scanned, from which a fragment of the reading is recorded and given a unique hash or iris code that cannot be used to identify the person, and is instead used to demonstrate their uniqueness. The method has polarized opinion, but has been supported by many leading figures involved in cryptocurrencies, among them Vitalik Buterin, while some state agencies dedicated to safeguarding the privacy and rights of citizens have already given…