Opinion: Worldcoin is no radical new financial system, and certainly not one aimed at equality or fairness.

Worldcoin’s plan to collect biometric data from poor people to bootstrap their system is unethical and raises serious privacy concerns. Their promises to protect users’ data are not enough to ensure privacy and security, and linking immutable biometric traits to financial identities could enable total identity lockout with dystopian consequences. In addition, Worldcoin’s token allocation favors insiders and market makers, indicating that equal distribution among all people is not a genuine goal. Overall, Worldcoin appears to be just another speculative crypto project masquerading as a radical new financial system.

  • ryan@the.coolest.zone
    51·
    11 months ago

    Sorry, I’ve been out of the cryptoscam news for a while. We’re doing eyeball-backed currency now? Someone invented eyeball coins? People are investing in the Orbchain?

    Can we just collectively take a step back and… Not?

    • jarfil@beehaw.org
      25·
      11 months ago

      Don’t worry, it’s all for good… it’s to combat the impossibility of distinguishing AI stuff from human stuff… and it’s by the same guy from ChatGPT, to combat the problems caused by ChatGPT, so he knows what he’s talking about… just don’t worry and look here for a quick eyeball scan… 🧿💥

      • abbadon420@lemm.ee
        16·
        11 months ago

        Thanks I feel better now. I’m glad this corporation watches over us and keeps us safe.

      • cstine@lemmy.uncomfortable.business
        4·
        11 months ago

        I love the Silicon Valley techbros lately. Their sales pitches have gone from ‘we have this cool new thing’ to ‘we’ve created something that solves the problems you didn’t have until we created the problem you’re now dealing with!’.

        Much shareholder value or something, I guess.

        • shanghaibebop@beehaw.org
          2·
          11 months ago

          I think the logic is more that if AI is inevitable, might as well be the first to make a shitload of money from it.

  • Gork@beehaw.org
    7·
    11 months ago

    They say they get around the easy linking of a single wallet address to your identity by using subaddresses. I don’t think this fixes it, it merely delays it.

    The number of these subaddresses are capped to prevent botting. But suppose you use this account every day for years or decades. You’ve meticulously allocated subaddresses for different categories of spending, assessed the risk profile of using each one, and used them throughout the years until you’re out of subaddresses.

    Now you’re vulnerable to having your identity tied to the account since the risk of getting had goes up every time you use any of your subaccounts. And this risk only increases the more you use your Worldcoin.

    Even if the biometric privacy safeguards they built in (hashing yer Mk. I orbs) work perfectly, I wouldn’t use it for the reasons I mentioned above, there isn’t a way to ensure transactional anonymity if your account/subaccounts can be linked to your real identity regardless of the method.

  • fx_@feddit.deEnglish
    4·
    11 months ago

    I’m really tired and maybe I’m already dreaming, but for the case I don’t: WTF guys?