SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 7.9.2024
The Orb is looking at you. https://worldcoin.org/find-orb
I was transfixed by this article in the Wall Street Journal.
The controversial world of cryptocurrency, digital identity and eye scans is reality for six million users in 160 countries. The company which developed this, some would say Orwellian technology, is called Tools for Humanity. https://www.toolsforhumanity.com/ Based in San Francisco.
Tools for Humanity. An Orwellian company title to be sure. For a 21st century venture which has developed invasive and impersonal technology.
Wall Street Journal 7.2.2024
Tools for Humanity named a former X executive as its first head of privacy as the tech startup founded by OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman faces growing regulatory scrutiny over its Worldcoin https://worldcoin.org/ venture that scans people’s eyes in exchange for cryptocurrency tokens.
The San Francisco-based company appointed Damien Kieran as chief privacy officer in a newly created position that brings together several privacy-focused roles across the organization under one function. Kieran spent seven years at what was formally Twitter, leaving his job as chief privacy officer there following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social-media platform.
Now, he faces the task of liaising with regulators globally and addressing their concerns over how Worldcoin handles biometric data.
“We’ll always look to work constructively with regulators in any country in which we operate,” Kieran said.
Worldcoin lets users download a wallet app that supports a digital identity known as World ID. To get their identity verified, users stand in front of a physical imaging device known as the orb that relies on sensors to scan their eyes “to verify humanness and uniqueness.” Worldcoin tokens are then distributed out to users in countries where they are legally available.
Nearly 6 million users across more than 160 countries signed up for World ID, with orb verifications taking place in 39 countries, according to Worldcoin’s website.
Tools for Humanity oversaw Worldcoin’s launch last year, promising to create a public financial network and tools that would help distinguish humans from artificial intelligence online while preserving their privacy.
“Worldcoin enables people to prove humanness at scale, which is becoming increasingly important in the age of AI. The technology ensures individuals cannot be identified personally based on any information used to create their World ID,” Kieran said.
However, the processing of biometric data raised eyebrows in countries such as Spain and Germany, where Tools for Humanity has a subsidiary. The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision last year launched a review of Worldcoin, citing the high sensitivity of the biometric data it processes.
Earlier this year, Worldcoin said it would give users the option to have their biometric data deleted permanently after Spain’s data-protection watchdog temporarily banned Worldcoin from operating in the country, citing the need to safeguard the right to the protection of personal data and prevent possible data transfers to third parties.
Tools for Humanity is a separate entity from OpenAI, which has a content-licensing partnership with Wall Street Journal owner News Corp.
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