The dystopian technology is rolling out globally but is facing regulatory scrutiny in the US.

Skeptics are watching as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s venture, Worldcoin, announces its launch. This Monday, the Berlin and San Francisco-based Tools for Humanity unveiled Worldcoin’s blockchain-based digital passport system – the World ID, together with its own cryptocurrency token, WLD.

With the promise of a cryptographically secured “proof-of-personhood,” Worldcoin seeks to distinguish real people from AI bots, setting the foundation for potential universal basic income (UBI) distribution. It does so by introducing its unique hardware, the “orb” – a silver orb roughly the size of a bowling ball – that performs iris scans to confirm the user’s humanity.

The core of the Worldcoin ecosystem consists of the World ID, a digital identity, and the WLD token, which users receive upon creating a wallet. To secure a World ID, users need to submit an iris scan through the Worldcoin Orb, thus offering a verifiable proof of their human identity.

The founders envision World ID as a global digital passport that is stored locally on users’ mobile devices and utilized in a privacy-centric manner. It is designed to safeguard underlying data, including biometric, Know Your Customer, and Anti-Money Laundering data, using zero-knowledge proofs.

The project’s launch has sparked vigorous debate, as it has raised numerous concerns related to centralization, privacy, and security. Notably, critics have voiced worries about potential privacy leaks, increased challenges in maintaining internet anonymity, and possible security threats arising from the centralization of data.

Other than being generally dystopian and part of the path towards a checkpoint society, the primary concerns that have emerged are privacy and security. These are not unique to Worldcoin, but they are acutely relevant given its ambitious endeavor to redefine proof of personhood.

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