It is not a dystopian TV series but a new Silico Valley startup.
Already 100,000 people have agreed to sell their crypto iris scan for Worldcoin. The idea is to involve as many people as possible in a common payment system in which every single person can have a certain and unique access key to their virtual money through biometrics. Certainly a solution that will raise concerns for those privacy conscious.
Group CEO of artificial intelligence firm OpenAI and former president of start-up accelerator Y Combinator Sam Altman, along with theoretical physics student Alex Blania created the Worldcoin project, attracted $ 25 million in funding for Worldcoin from Entities such as the Andreessen Horowitz fund, one of Silicon Valley’s best-known venture capitalists. To all people interested in participating, the company distributes one Worldcoin each. Over 100,000 users would already be on board, while the stated goal of the newborn start-up is to reach 1 billion people by 2023. To scan the iris, the company uses Orb, a metal device that reads and decodes the iris to decode it. This proves that the coin belongs to a certain person and gives access to the personal virtual wallet, with the given Worldcoin inside. It is assumed that the others will be purchased. The promoters of the project guarantee that the final purpose of the operation is to spread the use of cryptocurrencies as much as possible. The company is currently testing 30 prototypes of Orb devices, in different parts of the world, but in the United States there may be a delay in gaining “greater clarity on the regulatory environment”.
The mechanism makes us reflect on the use of technologies and the effects on society, but also on the value that companies and users give to their privacy. Two years ago, the experiments of two tech greats opened a case, Google giving away a $ 5 voucher in exchange for scanning their face, a test to improve the facial recognition of its phones; and Amazon giving a $ 25 coupon to anyone who was willing to have their bodies scanned: in this case too, the experiment was useful for improving one of its services, the sizing system for selling clothes online.
