Internet - Worldcoin project docks onto Telegram and Reddit
The digital ID World ID from the controversial Worldcoin project by OpenAI boss Sam Altman is set to help various online platforms distinguish human users from software robots in future. An extended protocol will be integrated into the login processes for the gaming platform Minecraft and the social networks Reddit and Telegram, among others. This was announced in San Francisco by Tools for Humanity (TFH), the company that developed and operates the World app.
World ID will also be embedded in the online retail stores Shopify from Canada and Mercado Libre, a retail market leader from Argentina. So far, the World ID has mainly been used on the gaming platform Discord to prove that an account holder is actually a human being. In future, it will also be possible to track how many accounts an owner has already created on a platform, for example.
Data protection concerns
According to TFH, around five million people worldwide currently have a World ID. More than half of the users have also had their eyeballs scanned in order to make full use of the World ID. Although TFH does not collect any other personal data such as name, birthday, address or bank details, the concept was met with great suspicion by politicians and authorities. The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision and the banking supervisory authority Bafin announced investigations. The results are not yet available.
The new version 2.0 of World ID now offers four graduated verification levels to give developers the choice of how strict the requirements should be in order to identify themselves as a human being. The World ID Pro variant also requires a facial scan, similar to the unlocking methods used on modern smartphones. The strictest variant, World ID Max, requires an additional iris scan.
In Germany, Worldcoin currently offers the option of having your World ID validated with an iris scan at five locations in Berlin, Cologne, Nuremberg and Stuttgart. With the new version of the World app, it is also possible to have your World ID account deleted again, promised TFH manager Tiago Sada. "As with everything to do with crypto, this was very difficult because things in crypto tend to be created forever and ever." However, a technical solution was found.
TFH GmbH, which was founded by Sam Altman and the German computer scientist Alex Blania, has offices in Erlangen, San Francisco and Berlin. Sada told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that Altman is "as committed as ever" to Worldcoin. Altman takes part in important discussions and has actively contributed to many innovations. "Of course, his main role is as CEO of OpenAI. But he is part of the team."
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Source: www.stern.de
