Ricardo Macieira, general manager for Europe at Tools for Humanity (TFH), confirmed the move in an interview with Reuters. He told the news outlet that Worldcoin is set to expand its operations by signing up more users and allowing other organizations to use its iris-scanning and identity-verifying technology. TFH is the company responsible for Worldcoin and the accompanying World ID system.
"We are on this mission of building the biggest financial and identity community that we can," Macieira emphasized. "The idea is that as we build this infrastructure, we allow other third parties to use the technology."
The TFH executive clarified that the company's primary focus is to establish an infrastructure that enables governments and other entities to implement digital identity systems. For instance, companies could employ Worldcoin's technology to ensure a fair distribution of services, like providing one free coffee to each customer without collecting personal data.
Worldcoin also committed to making its iris-scanning device, known as the "chrome orb," an open-source in the future. According to Macieira, this will enable others to contribute to the technology and utilize it to benefit their own communities. He told Reuters: "Anyone can, in the future, build their own orb and use it to benefit the community that it's aiming for."
Since its launch on July 24, Worldcoin has been setting up registration sites globally. People willingly undergo iris scans using the "chrome orb" in exchange for a digital ID and, in certain regions, free cryptocurrency. Over two million people have previously signed up for Worldcoin during its trial period over the last two years.
The company successfully raised $115 million in May, through the support of prominent venture capital investors such as Blockchain Capital, a16z crypto, Bain Capital Crypto and Distributed Global. Armed with this capital, Worldcoin plans to expand its operations across Europe, Latin America, Africa and any region that, in Macieira's words, "would welcome its services."
Worldcoin's website claims the project is "completely private" and the biometric data is either deleted or stored in encrypted form. Privacy experts doubt this claim, however. (Related: Worldcoin accused of unethical practices shortly after its official launch.)
Back in 2022, the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (BayLDA) initiated an investigation into Worldcoin. TFH is subject to the BayLDA's oversight as the company behind Worldcoin has an office in Germany's southeastern Bavarian state.
BayLDA President Michael Will said the agency would look into whether Worldcoin's system is "safe and stable," given concerns about its large-scale processing of sensitive data. According to him, the project "requires very, very ambitious security measures and lots of explanations and transparency to ensure that data protection requirements are not neglected." Users who entrust their data to Worldcoin deserve "absolute clarity" about the purpose and methods of data processing, he added.
Meanwhile, MIT Technology Review investigated the promises of Worldcoin to anonymize and destroy the biometric data of users to protect their privacy. Sadly, the review uncovered that the data destruction did not take place as claimed. Instead, valuable biometric information of users remain within the systems of the company.
Furthermore, researchers from the Technology Review found evidence of how the company collected biometric data in developing countries like Indonesia, Kenya and Colombia. The company reportedly used the chrome orb with advanced cameras and sensors to capture the bodies, faces and irises of people without proper consent.
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OpenAI CEO launches iris-scanning crypto plan to "verify" every human being: "IT'S TIME."
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