In a blog post, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin discussed Worldcoin and biometric evidence of personhood.
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is supporting the Worldcoin project that uses biometrics to build a global digital identity system that can discriminate between humans and robots.
The privacy issues of Worldcoin’s biometric identification method were explored by Vitalik Buterin in a blog article. He concluded that maintaining iris hashes provides sufficient privacy protection.
Identity verification could be revolutionized by Worldcoin, but some concerns need to be considered as well.
Buterin claims that while specialized hardware like Worldcoin’s Orb is more secure, software-based identity verification methods are more susceptible to hacks.
Buterin argues that specialized hardware is more difficult to fool than commodity hardware, which is in turn more difficult to fool than digital algorithms verifying pictures and videos.
Buterin feels that storing biometric information through hashed iris scans will protect users’ privacy. He adds, though, that it does not totally satisfy privacy concerns. For example, it can still be used to check if a user has registered.
In response to privacy and centralization worries, Worldcoin is taking measures to open-source its technology, decentralize Orb production, and decentralize its governance.
