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Sam Altman’s Orb and Crypto
Tools for Humanity has an iris-scanning Orb that decides whether you're human or a robot—and then gives you crypto. But is Worldcoin worth the price?
You're here to see the Orb. The receptionist knows exactly what your talking about. Inside the coworking space in Shoreditch, East London, a small crowd has gathered. Mostly male, mostly young, many bearded—very crypto. The Orb is there too, chrome, gleaming, mounted at eye-level on a pole, waiting to scan us, one by one. In fact, there are two Orbs—the other one is being carted around less ceremoniously by hand.
The devices are on a world tour, the sharp end of a new cryptocurrency-based project, Worldcoin, created by Tools for Humanity, a company cofounded by Alex Blania and Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI and creator of ChatGPT. Everyone who signs up to the project has their irises and other facial features scanned by one of the hundreds of Orbs in circulation, in return for a chunk of a new cryptocurrency. The aim, its founders say, is to create a global identification system that will help reliably differentiate between humans and AI, in preparation for when intelligence is no longer a reliable indicator of personhood.
By capturing someone’s unique biometrics and encoding those details into a numeric string, the logic goes, that person will be able to demonstrate they are both a human (not a bot) and unique from other humans, for the purposes of voting, say. In turn, social media firms and other online platforms will be able to verify the authenticity of their users and thereby stamp out nefarious bot activity, from spam and fraud to the spread of disinformation.
“The one discriminator we all had on the internet to distinguish us from machines was always intelligence, but that’s going to vanish,” Blania told WIRED in June. “To our knowledge, the Orb is the only implementation that can work globally to solve this problem.”
The name of the project, Worldcoin, is a nod to its global ambitions (the Orb has already recorded eyes in more than 30 countries, across five continents), but also the cryptocurrency given out to anyone that agrees to be scanned. The idea was to use a crypto handout, explains Blania, to solve the perennial cold start problem: What better way to encourage people to join than to pay them? So far, more than 2 million people have signed up.
But the dystopian flavor of the proposition—an iris scan for some crypto—has been lost on nobody. In October 2021, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden admonished the idea in a Twitter thread: “Don’t catalog eyeballs,” he wrote. “Don’t use biometrics for anti-fraud. In fact, don’t use biometrics for anything. The human body is not a punch ticket.” Blania says that, unless an individual specifies otherwise, raw images captured by the Orb are deleted and only the numeric representation is kept on file.
Despite criticism of the project, one's visit to see the Orb shows that plenty of people are willing to squash any apprehensions, whether because they are a fan of Altman, tech’s latest messiah, or for a shot at crypto riches. But as more information about Worldcoin is made public, crypto analysts are raising objections: Whether by design or otherwise, they say, regular people are unlikely to profit.
The origins of Worldcoin can be traced back to 2019, when Altman was casting about for a way to stand up a global scheme for universal basic income, or UBI, an arrangement whereby everyone is given a modest amount of money on a regular basis—at least enough on which to subsist. In order to distribute wealth truly equitably, though, he would need an identity verification technology that prevented people from signing up twice and walking away with more than their fair share.
In June 2021, the first details about the project were published. Before ChatGPT brought generative AI into the public consciousness, the slant of the pitch was slightly different: Worldcoin would launch a new cryptocurrency, a share of which would be given to everyone on earth, provided they could demonstrate their uniqueness. Since then, Worldcoin has been handing out what effectively amounted to an IOU: A promise that a handful of its new tokens would be given to signups at a later date, once the technical infrastructure had been developed and tested.
A nonprofit called the Worldcoin Foundation has been formed to steward the project and ensure the identity network acts as a “public utility.” Tools for Humanity, which developed both the Orb and the app through which people sign up, will eventually look for ways to generate income from services that form around the project. But for now, there is “nothing within sight,” says Blania.
To both trial its technology and scale its user base, Worldcoin conducted initial field tests across 27 countries—from Norway and Chile, to Kenya and Sudan. A team of independent contractors, called Orb Operators, who were paid a commission for each iris scanned, notched up hundreds of thousands of signups. 14 of the trial nations are classified as developing, per WorldBank. “We wanted to test it in all circumstances,” says Blania.
In April 2022, MIT Technology Review published an investigation that found Worldcoin representatives had frequently engaged in “deceptive marketing practices” and “failed to obtain meaningful informed consent” from those whose eyes they were scanning. Blania says the issues described in the report should be put down to the teething pains of a startup: “I don’t want to make light excuses,” he says. “But back then, the project was 15 people sitting in a small town in Germany. Many, many, many changes have been made.”
On July 24, the Worldcoin token was finally ready for distribution. In a statement marking the occasion, Blania and Altman said they hope Worldcoin will “drastically increase economic opportunity, scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy, enable global democratic processes, and eventually show a potential path to AI-funded UBI.”
In London, it often took a few attempts for the Orb to register its target; glasses were sometimes a problem, or a drooping fringe. But otherwise, the process took all of a few minutes: The Orb scanned a QR code on the person’s phone generated when they preregistered, then their face.
“We don’t take ID or anything. So long as you look over 18, we scan your iris,” said Ana Howard, the contractor hired to lead onboarding in London. But everyone that registers is “one hundred percent informed and knows what they’re signing up for,” she added.
Everyone who got scanned got a free T-shirt. On the front was emblazoned the Worldcoin logo and the words “unique human.”
Over the next three hours, a steady trickle of people arrived for their own appointments with the Orb, but with a varying degree of knowledge about the project and differing motivations for being there. Of the seven that spoke to WIRED, none had much if any trepidation about their eyes being scanned: There’s no such thing as privacy these days, anyway, we were told. But almost all said they would have given more thought to their decision had Altman not been associated with the project.
“I’m a fan of Sam [Altman] for ChatGPT, so I thought: Let me give it a whirl,” says Greg King, after he had been scanned. “I know a little bit [about the Worldcoin project], but not masses—I thought I’d catch up later.”
Altman was also the attraction for Michael Aldridge, another new signup, who until that morning had never heard of Worldcoin. “I may still have come along,” he said, “but would probably have done some more research.”
Others, even if they had a passing interest in the proof of personhood proposition, were primarily there for the crypto reward. James Bryant explained he was making a calculated gamble on the possibility that Worldcoin might be the next cryptocurrency to skyrocket in value; he was hoping to get in on the ground floor. “I think this might be the next chance,” he said. “It’s the next big bet. How else can you move up the social ladder?”
“It sounds greedy,” said Joe Sims, another new registrant, “but the crypto giveaway [was the reason I came.] I remember hearing about bitcoin 10 years ago, when it cost $8, but ignoring it. Maybe nothing will come of this, and yes, I’ve given up my iris—but it’s only taken five minutes.”
That logic seems to be driving a lot of the interest in Worldcoin. On the Discord server, the talk is almost exclusively about the 25-token “genesis grant”—worth about $50—awarded to those that sign up either within the first week or prelaunch. “It’s been two days already,” wrote one verified user, who was still waiting to receive their payout. “Now it feels like my three days of travel for Orb verification is wasted,” said another, in a similar boat.
Experts in tokenomics—the issuance and supply dynamics of crypto tokens—have expressed concern that the structure of the Worldcoin launch may jeopardize the project’s bold ambitions from the outset, and, potentially, disadvantage regular people that now purchase the token.
The total supply of Worldcoin tokens will be capped initially at 10 billion. Three quarters of that amount will be distributed to users over the next 15-plus years, with the remainder split between Tools for Humanity staff and investors, who must refrain from selling any for at least the next 12 months.
At launch, though, a maximum of 143 million tokens will circulate, 100 million of which have been loaned to third-party marketmakers whose job is to provide liquidity on the exchanges on which the token trades. Dyma Budorin, cofounder of crypto auditing company Hacken, says the arrangement—whereby a token is launched with a small initial supply, a large chunk of which is given to market makers—leads to an unrealistic valuation (Worldcoin presently has a theoretical market capitalization of $22.9 billion) that serves the interests of prelaunch private investors but makes it unlikely that regular people buying on the open market will profit. Others, like Ari Paul, founder of investment firm BlockTower Capital, have articulated similar concerns another possible red flag, says Budorin, is the lack of a clearly discernible use for the token, beyond financial speculation. Typically, a token might serve a particular function (say, to let holders vote on how a project should allocate the money in its treasury) that undergirds its value. But in this case, says Budorin, that utility is missing. “Right now, Worldcoin is a memecoin, a Sam Altman memecoin—it’s like a toy,” he says.
The Worldcoin token, the whitepaper states, will “empower users by giving them a say” over the direction of the project, but not until the Worldcoin Foundation has ironed out the specifics in consultation with users. Tools for Humanity did not respond to questions about the opportunity for the Worldcoin tokenomics to favor the interests of private investors over regular users. But in our June interview, Blania defended the idea that the utility of the Worldcoin project would unfold slowly over time, and that the token is only a small fragment of the larger picture.
“At the simplest level, Worldcoin is a digital identity and financial network. That’s the core of it. All of the other things—AI and UBI—are applications,” he says. “Something like this is going to happen, there’s no way around it. It will become necessary.”
Also:
OpenAI CEO’s Worldcoin project launches wallet app
Worldcoin, founded by Sam Altman, is set to launch its WLD token this year.
Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced the launch of its cryptocurrency wallet on May 8.
Worldcoin wallet now, token later
The new wallet, titled “World App,” supports a beta version of Worldcoin (WLD) as well as third-party cryptocurrencies such as Wrapped Ethereum (WETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), USD Coin (USDC), and Maker’s DAI stablecoin (DAI).
Worldcoin will be launched this year. Users in eligible countries will be able to claim the token on a weekly or monthly basis.
World App and Worldcoin are largely powered by the Ethereum blockchain and related technologies including account abstraction, ENS usernames, and Uniswap. The beta relies on Polygon while the final version will run on Ethereum rollups.
The project also relies on Ramp and MoonPay for fiat withdrawals and deposits.
Worldcoin focuses on AI, ID
Worldcoin attracted controversy beginning in 2021 due to its reliance on retina-scanning ID technology, which was frequently called “dystopian.”
The project addressed that concern today as it noted that World App integrates its World ID product, but on an optional basis. It said that the app does not “require any personal information” and said that users can delete their data instantly. It said that World ID keys are self-custodied, though users can back up those keys on cloud services.
Worldcoin also hinted at its artificial intelligence (AI) plans, noting that it aims to “empower individuals in the Age of AI” by providing “AI-funded UBI.”
Worldcoin is not directly related to OpenAI beyond the fact that Sam Altman has been involved in both firms. Altman has also held other roles in the tech industry, including various positions at the startup accelerator YCombinator between 2011 and 2019.
Also:
Worldcoin Rises, But So Do Privacy Concerns
The
entire cryptocurrency market remains red on Tuesday, with Bitcoin
trading at $29,185 and Ether exchanging hands at $1,855, with the total
market cap down at $1.22 trillion. But one coin defied market momentum
with everyone's eyes on the freshly launched Worldcoin (WLD).
At the time of writing, the $218 million market cap token has been trading at $2.09, down 22.7% in the past 24 hours while managing $477 mln in trading volume.
On Monday, the starting price of the coin was $0.15. But with all the market attention on WLD, it went to hit $3.30 but is down 38.88% since then, as per CoinGecko.
These gains came after the world's largest crypto exchange Binance listed the token, where the token price went as high as $0.5290. The trading pair WLD/USDT on Binance still accounts for 42.77% of all Worldcoin trading volume.
Besides Binance, several other major exchanges listed the token on the same day of its launch. Centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs) Huobi, OKX, KuCoin, Bybit, WOO X, MEXC, Bitget, and Gate.io have already started allowing trading for the coin along with the decentralized exchanges (DEXs) Uniswap.
However, it's important to note that only 1% of the token supply, about 107 million out of the 10 billion, is circulating in the market. This puts the current FDC (Fully Diluted Valuation) at $20.2 bln.
While a new shiny thing for crypto to focus on, WLD comes with centralization and privacy implications, which has the market criticizing the project.
Worldcoin: Scan Your Iris in Exchange for Tokens
The company started ramping up expectations on Twitter over the weekend before its launch, with users prompted to update the mobile app. The functionality was also blocked in the app with the message, “It's time. Join us in the World App.”
Then on Monday, Worldcoin announced on Twitter that it had launched its mainnet and WLD token.
“More than three years ago, we founded Worldcoin with the ambition of creating a new identity and financial network owned by everyone,” wrote co-founders Sam Altman and Alex Blania in the company letter.
The project involves a privacy-preserving digital identity, World ID, which is proof of being a real and unique person online. The ID is given upon visiting the biometric verification device called Orb.
Orb is a tailor-made silver ball approximately the size of a bowling ball that weighs 2.8 kg or just under 6.2 lbs. Using the scan, the orb creates a unique identifier for each human but doesn't process or store any related data locally, as per the company. And in exchange for the full verification, which requires users to scan their irises using Orb, users are airdropped 25 WLD tokens.
“Worldcoin is an attempt at global scale alignment, the journey will be challenging, and the outcome is uncertain. But finding new ways to broadly share the coming technological prosperity is a critical challenge of our time,” wrote Altman and Blania.
Tokenomics, Demographics, & Future Plans
With Worldcoin mainnet and token launched, developers will now also have access to the project's software development kit (SDK), which up until now has been available in beta mode. Verified users participated in token airdrops, which will now be converted, and users will be able to move them out of World App or use them within the application.
World App is a crypto wallet that was launched in May. It is designed by the research lab and tech product development company Tools for Humanity (TFH), which Altman and Blania co-founded. On Monday, the World App put up a notice of being “at capacity” and “experiencing high loads.”
Right from the launch, features like peer-to-peer concepts will be available on the World App. Beyond that, the public availability of SDK means developers can create tools and apps using its identity protocol World ID.
The project is also ramping up the Orb availability worldwide, with about 200 Orbs currently available. Late last month, Worldcoin integrated with an identity and access management software provider Okta that has “hundreds of millions of users” and is aiming for billions.
According to the company, the plan is to make 1,500 Orbs available by the end of the year. Made in Germany, the Orbs feature a wide-angle camera as well as a telephoto camera to capture an image of the human iris. Already more than 2 million people have been scanned — 32% of them being from Asia and Africa each, 19% from Latin America, and 17% in Europe, the firm said in its whitepaper.
In the coming months, Worldcoin will make the verification available in 35 cities. The app is currently available in 120 countries. Moreover, the company will be adding the option to book appointments as opposed to pop-ups.
With the launch of its ERC-20 token, the project further finalized its migration from Polygon to the Optimism network, a layer 2 scaling option for Ethereum. The move was first announced in February as part of its commitment to “realizing a scalable, inclusive future that unlocks the full potential of crypto and furthers the evolution of identity on the blockchain.”
The project also released WLD tokenomics on Monday, which shows that the WLD supply will be capped at 10 billion tokens for 15 years. After this, the network governance can decide to implement an inflation rate of up to 1.5%, along with how to allocate the minted tokens.
The maximum circulating supply at launch is 143 million WLD, of which 43 million will be allocated to already verified on the World App during pre-launch. One hundred million, meanwhile, is given to market makers outside the US, which will expire in three months, to facilitate trading.
As per tokenomics, the majority (75%) of the token supply will be made available to the Worldcoin community. These 7.5 billion WLD tokens were minted before the launch. The foundation aims to allocate 6 billion of those to users. However, not all 2.5 billion WLD, meant for insiders, has been allocated.
Out of the remaining supply, Tools for Humanity's investors will receive 13.5%, while the initial development team is set to get a 9.8% slice. The portion meant for the team is presently under lockup, with a plan to release it gradually over the coming three years. Rounding off the allocation, a 1.7% reserve has been set aside to handle potential contingencies.
A Tool to Enable Global Democratic Processes
Back in May, the San Francisco and Berlin-based startup Tools for Humanity raised $115 million in a Series C round led by Blockchain Capital with participation from a16z, Bain Capital Crypto, and Distributed Global to build Worldcoin.
The project uses AI to create unique codes to represent the scans and complies with “very, very local and very specific rules and regulations in each of the markets where there's an Orb,” said Rebecca Hahn, chief communications officer at Tools for Humanity, in an interview.
While US citizens and those based in the country cannot access the token, Tools for Humanity's head of product, engineering & design, Tiago Sada, said that the “lack of regulatory” still allows them to get a verified World ID. As such, the company is confident in using the network in the US, based on people's excitement to sign up for World ID.
“It is really sad,” said Altman of not issuing tokens in the US amidst an SEC-led crackdown on digital assets. “Of course, we're going to follow the law. I hope that there's more clarity in the US over time and a more friendly environment.”
World ID, the project's main offering, is described as a “digital passport” to prove that its holder isn't an AI bot but a real human. Moreover, its wallet application World App can leverage the network of authenticated users to root out bots.
“In the age of AI, the need for proof of personhood is no longer a topic of serious debate; instead, the critical question is whether or not the proof of personhood solutions we have can be privacy-first, decentralized, and maximally inclusive,” said Blania.
According to the company, the distinction between human and AI bots is necessary in the age of generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT.
Altman is the co-founder of Open AI, the startup behind ChatGPT, which sent OpenAI's valuation to almost $30 billion. A couple of months ago, Altman called upon Congress to regulate AI and recently committed to a White House-brokered safety pledge.
According to Altman, Worldcoin can help address how generative AI will reshape the economy. “People will be supercharged by AI, which will have massive economic implications,” he told Reuters.
The idea is to have AI-funded UBI or universal basic income, a government-run program where every individual is entitled to payments, with Worldcoin to help eliminate fraud by adopting it in distributing UBI.
As AI “will do more and more of the work that people now do,” UBI can help to combat income inequality because only real people can have World IDs, noted Altman. While UBI could be “very far in the future,” Altman said, Worldcoin lays the groundwork for it to become a reality. “We think that we need to start experimenting with things so we can figure out what to do,” he said.
Besides Worldcoin and ChatGPT, Altman has also invested in Elon Musk's Neuralink and startup Retro Biosciences which aims to lengthen human life. He is also behind a nuclear fission startup Oklo, which will go public in a deal valuing the company at $850 mln. Speaking on his investments, Alman said in an interview with the Financial Times that “these are independent parts of a specific vision of the future which I believe in.”
Major Privacy, Centralization, & Security Concerns
With Worldcoin, Altman and Blania want to increase economic opportunity and scale a reliable solution for distinguishing humans from AI online while preserving privacy, limiting centralized control, and enabling global democratic processes.
However, the project is already facing scrutiny regarding how it has been collecting and processing the data and whether it can be safe from hackers in the future. Also, can it really be fraud-proof with a black market for iris scans reportedly already flourishing?
Late last month, Tools for Humanity's Sada said that users can opt to have their data retained, in which case, “their data is encrypted,” which then can be used for improving the accuracy and inclusivity of the models.” The user also has the ability to always revoke permission, Sada added.
The market, however, isn't convinced, with Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus referring to Worldcoin as “creepy and weird.”
Meanwhile, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin released a blog post on Monday where he detailed his major concerns with Worldcoin's user authentication system, called “Proof-of-Personhood” (PoP).
Buterin argued that Worldcoin's system has potential issues with accessibility, centralization, privacy, and security.
According to him, World IDs won't be readily accessible to everyone, and scanning one's iris could potentially release more information than intended. Moreover, the “Orb” is a hardware device, and Buterin alleges that “we have no way to verify that (Orb) was constructed correctly and does not have backdoors,” alleged Buterin, adding the company can still insert a backdoor into its system and create “arbitrarily many fake human identities.”
Not to mention, users' phones could be hacked and then coerced into giving out their iris scans, he said. And while specialized hardware systems are better at protecting user privacy than traditional identification schemes, it also introduces “much greater centralization concerns.” “There is no ideal form of proof of personhood,” Buterin said.
All said, the token has captured traders' interest, while the project is gaining censure for now. And it remains to be seen if the project has any long-term viability beyond the short-term pump.
Frequently asked questions about Worldcoin
Currently in beta, the Worldcoin protocol is intended to be the world’s largest identity and financial public network, open to everyone regardless of their country, background or economic status. Read more about the protocol in the “What is Worldcoin?” blog.
How it works:
World ID
a privacy-preserving digital identity designed to help solve important, identity-based challenges, including proving an individual’s unique personhood.
Worldcoin token (WLD)
a token providing utility and giving users a say over the direction of the Worldcoin protocol. WLD is the first token to be globally and freely distributed to people just for being a unique individual.
World App
an app that enables payment, purchases and transfers globally using digital assets and traditional currencies
To sign up for World ID, follow these three steps:
Step 1: Download the World App from the App Store or Google Play in countries where it is available
Step 2: Follow the prompts to find a local Worldcoin Operator who can verify your unique personhood
Step 3: Receive your World ID in your World App and use it in a wide variety of everyday applications without revealing your identity
Worldcoin Operators are currently onboarding in additional locations. Please continue to check back regularly in the World App if a Worldcoin Operator is not immediately available near you.
Orb & Worldcoin Operators
The Orb is an imaging device that verifies you are a real and unique person who has not previously received a World ID. It is necessary because it is the only secure way of reliably determining uniqueness and personhood while also preserving privacy. Additional information about the Orb can be found on the Worldcoin blog.
The Orb checks that an individual is real and is unique, and has not previously received a World ID. It does this by capturing and processing images of an individual and their unique iris pattern. Since no two people have the same iris pattern and these patterns are very hard to fake, the Orb can accurately tell people apart from one another without having to collect any other information about them—not even their name. More details about the Orb and why biometrics are needed to prove uniqueness and humanness are outlined in a post on the Worldcoin blog.
The Orb complies with the specifications set forth in the international standard which includes eye safety (IEC-62741). The technology the Orb uses to verify uniqueness and personhood is opento the public for review and input. The Worldcoin community (including the Worldcoin Foundation) will continue working to ensure safety and privacy are at the center of all advancements.
Once launched, WLD will be available to anyone located in a place where WLD is available.*
*Worldcoin tokens are not intended to be available to people in the United States or other restricted territories. More details can be found in the Worldcoin terms of use.
Worldcoin Operators are individuals who operate Orbs all around the world and can earn Worldcoin or fiat currency by introducing Worldcoin to their communities and helping people securely sign up for World ID via the Orb. The Operators are not employees of the Worldcoin Foundation or Tools for Humanity, and run their operations independently while being expected to follow a strict Code of Conduct that emphasizes complying with laws and protecting the public.
Easily identifiable by their branded clothing, Worldcoin Operator team members can be seen throughout the community. These individuals facilitate the World ID sign-up process by helping users download the World App, assisting in account set up, verifying individuals for uniqueness via the Orb and providing educational resources regarding digital currencies. Worldcoin also provides 24/7 support to users through an online help center and live customer support agents.
Download the app to locate a Worldcoin Operator near you.
Worldcoin Operators are currently onboarding in additional locations. Please continue to check back regularly in the World App if a Worldcoin Operator is not immediately available near you.
Visit the Worldcoin Operator application site and apply!
Worldcoin Operators are currently available in a limited number of locations, but Worldcoin plans to offer additional locations in the future.
Launch
Worldcoin is expected to launch soon. The exact launch date will be determined by the leadership of the Worldcoin Foundation, which is charged with supporting the protocol and growing the Worldcoin community until the community becomes self-sufficient. The launch date will be set based on when the network and early applications can launch responsibly, in a way that is best for users and the long-term mission of the public utility.
“Launch” is the moment when the Worldcoin protocol goes “live,” leaving beta and entering a production-grade state. This means that users can use the protocol to do things like transmit and store value on the network and participate in applications running on the network.
The best ways to receive the latest information about Worldcoin are to sign up for a World ID, to download the World App Alternatively, follow Worldcoin on Twitter or Discord.
Data Privacy & Security
Personal data must be shared for a user to download the World App.
Individuals who want to receive a World ID are not required to share their name, phone number, email address, or home address. Images collected by the Orb are used to generate a unique iris code. By default these images are immediately deleted once the iris code is created, unless the user opts in to Data Custody. Opting into Data Custody will decrease the probability and frequency of the user’s need to reverify their World ID as the iris code algorithms change. The World ID sign up process is only intended to verify an individual’s uniqueness - i.e., that they have not previously signed up and received a World ID.
Worldcoin users may choose to share additional data, but this is never required. As an example, a user may provide their email address to sign up for the Worldcoin newsletter.
Importantly, the Worldcoin Foundation and its initial contributor Tools for Humanity do not, and never will, sell anyone’s personal data, including biometric data.
To learn more about the Worldcoin approach to data collection, handling and privacy, visit the protocol’s privacy page or the Worldcoin Blog.
The Worldcoin Foundation and its contributor Tools for Humanity do not and never will share any personal data (including biometric data) with anyone who is not working on or assisting with the Worldcoin project.
The Worldcoin Foundation and its contributor Tools for Humanity never have and never will sell any personal data.
Any personal data shared with Worldcoin is encrypted in transit and at rest.
Worldcoin is fully compliant with all laws and regulations governing biometric data collection and data transfer, including Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). Worldcoin never collects any biometric data from any user without that user’s explicit consent. Worldcoin’s Biometric Data Consent Form clearly describes its purposes in this area.
Minors are not allowed to participate in the project.
In the European Union, Tools for Humanity is under the supervision of the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision (Bayerisches Landesamt für Datenschutz).
Worldcoin is not a Virtual Asset Service Provider (“VASP”) or another similar classification. When a user downloads the World App and is verified as a unique person at an Orb, they are provided with two separate virtual tools: (1) a World ID, a privacy-preserving digital identity, and (2) a self-custodial wallet. As a self-custodial wallet provider, Worldcoin does not provide exchange services and does not hold custody of any crypto assets or funds.
Worldcoin is built on the Ethereum blockchain utilizing both layer 1 and layer 2 technologies for efficiency. On September 15, 2022 the Ethereum blockchain underwent “the merge,” a transition that reduced the energy used in operating the Ethereum blockchain by more than 99.95% overnight.
Other
Worldcoin is a decentralized open source protocol supported by a global community of developers, economists and technologists committed to expanding participation in, and access to, the global digital economy. It is intended to become a public network, with ownership by everyone.
The Worldcoin Foundation is the initial steward of the protocol, and will support and grow the Worldcoin community until it becomes self-sufficient. It will do this by facilitating decentralization of the project over time consistent with Worldcoin’s goals and mission-focused ethos.
Tools for humanity (TFH) is a global technology company established to accelerate the transition towards a more just economic system. It led the initial development of Worldcoin and operates the World App, but it has no other affiliation with and is governed entirely independently of the Worldcoin Foundation. Over time, TFH will continue to develop important tools supporting Worldcoin and beyond. Tools for Humanity Corporation is a Delaware (U.S.) corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It has a wholly-owned subsidiary, Tools for Humanity GmbH based in Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany. TFH has offices in San Francisco, Erlangen, and Berlin.
The best ways to receive the latest information about Worldcoin are to sign up for a World ID, to download the World App or to subscribe to the Worldcoin email updates. Alternatively, follow Worldcoin on Twitter or Discord. Updates will also be available via the Worldcoin blog.
Because Worldcoin is an open-source protocol, it is supported by a global community of developers, individuals, economists and technologists. Anyone can use their skills to contribute to Worldcoin, by engaging on the Worldcoin Github, becoming a Worldcoin Operator, or later pursuing a grant from the Worldcoin Foundation. Individuals interested in specifically working at the Worldcoin Foundation or joining contributor Tools for Humanity should visit the Worldcoin careers page for information regarding open positions.
From: https://worldcoin.org/faqs?m=1
