The co-founder of Openai, Sam Altman, launched Worldcoin in 2023 to give people a digital identity to be checked safely and anonymously online.
The idea behind the project forced people to scan their iris and, in exchange for their personal data, the company would reward them with a small amount of cryptocurrency, which, according to her, would inspire more people to register.
Altman expressed his intention for Worldcoin as “proof of personality“Because AI could imitate human behavior and speak like them, which makes it more difficult to say who or what is real online. He also wanted to fill the gap between the rich and the poor by giving everyone equal access to digital services without paperwork or password.
At the beginning, Worldcoin was all the media threw because publications on social networks showed that people were waiting in long lines to scan their iris, especially in the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Most volunteers were more than happy to be part of the world technological movement, while others were there for the free cryptocurrency that the company gave to all those who scanned their iris.
However, Altman's vision of a connected and equal world began to collapse while people and governments have raised concerns concerning privacy, data security, equity and consent of the project.
Privacy groups slam the world on the risk and the biometric exploitation
Technology experts and privacy groups have warned that the biometric data of these eye analyzes are extremely sensitive because the information is directly connected to who you are as a person. And as you cannot change your eyes like your password, a hacker could easily track down or fly.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) also criticized the project by saying that the company rushed to collect information in third world countries because people did not know how Worldcoin would use, protect or delete their data.
In addition, people have raised concerns about consent, because Worldcoin would sometimes target people with limited internet access or education, as they are less likely to understand the risks and make a more informed decision. Some users have even said that they had not registered in Worldcoin for free cryptocurrency but did not know how the company would use their data.
Worldcoin was also faced with a meticulous examination on transparency, because it did not clearly explain how the user data was stored, which had access to it, and what would happen if the company changed ownership or closed.
Although Worldcoin pretended to anonymize the data, the experts stressed that he could still be traced to the individual with the right tools. Once an analysis is in the company's database, it could remain there indefinitely.
Due to growing problems, various governments have launched surveys into WorldCoin practices. Nations such as Spain, Portugal and Kenya are at the forefront of WorldCoin's demanding operations in their regions. These actions prove that many governments around the world move too quickly, breaking several legislative laws that seek to protect the interests of users.
Worldcoin is trying to win back trust after prohibitions
Due to the decline in the government, Worldcoin quickly tried to save his image and respond to growing criticism by sharing the code behind his Orbian digitization apparatus to help people understand how it worked and prove that he does not secretly collect data than he claimed.
In addition, the company introduced the “personal guard” to allow users to control their data by storing them themselves or deleting it from the database. In addition, Worldcoin has led independent experts to carry out third -party audits to determine that business technology and policies aligned on regulations as Worldcoin said.
Despite these efforts, legal and technological experts still have mixed opinions because some say that it was the first step towards the right reason, while others claim that these efforts were not sufficient and that the company still has big problems to solve.
Consequently, even after all the changes that the world has brought, the gap between what the company claims and what regulators believe remains wide because the regulators say that the company still has to explain, repair and prove more before lifting prohibitions.
The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) plans to invoke the developers of Worldcoin and Worldid next week. This action follows the temporary suspension of platforms that collect user IRIS data for alleged regulatory violations.
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