Early adopters in Mexico lend their eyes to global biometric project (www.reuters.com)

submitted 11 months ago by ijeff to c/technology@beehaw.org

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cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/486175 (!aistuff@lemdro.id)

Eager early adopters recently descended upon a Mexico City cafe where their eyes were scanned by a futuristic sphere, part of an ambitious project that ultimately seeks to create a unique digital identification for everyone on the planet.

Mexico is one of nearly three dozen countries where participants are allowing the sphere, outfitted with cameras and dubbed an orb, to scan their iris. The project's goal is to distinguish people from bots online, while doling out a cryptocurrency bonus as a incentive to participate.

The so-called Worldcoin project is a biometric verification tool led by Sam Altman, the chief executive of Open AI, and the crypto company he co-founded, Tools for Humanity.

This doesn't sound creepy at all... thoughts?

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[-] teri@discuss.tchncs.de 30 points 11 months ago

It is completely creepy. Think about who is behind Open AI. That's a mixture of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel (Palantir), Microsoft and others. A right-wing, anti democratic, anti-human and purely profit oriented group. The name "Tools for Humanity" is complete sarcasm. What they do with Worldcoin smells like a modern attempt of colonization. Collecting biometry, subverting critical infrastructure (financial systems), making fake promises, blinding poor people with shiny metal balls and a little bit of money in some cases.

This can be stopped though! The Kenyan government apparently banned the project - for good.

[-] Rozauhtuno@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 11 months ago

Tools for (Dominating) Humanity

[-] MasterBuilder@lemmy.one 4 points 11 months ago

Humanity as tools.

[-] hascat@programming.dev 1 points 10 months ago

Elon left OpenAI a while ago and is doing his own AI thing now.

[-] adonkeystomple@lemmy.ml 30 points 11 months ago

The dystopia is coming. If it's not already here.

[-] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 11 months ago

Pretty sure it’s already here, just not as flashy and futuristic as we were expecting. Just sort of boring and tiring, trying to get through the day as it burns around us.

That’s why everyone knows what “this is the worst timeline” means.

[-] Rozauhtuno@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

!aboringdystopia@lemmy.world

[-] Ronno@kbin.social 11 points 11 months ago

Its been here for decades. It was already mandatory to provide an iris scan upon arrival in the US back when I visited New York in 2013. At the time, I was already baffled it was a requirement and wasn't happy, but at that moment there is nothing else to do then comply. The US probably has a very big iris scan, fingerprint and passport database of at least the western world.

[-] Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 11 months ago

This is the boring dystopia.

No flying cars, just big trucks rolling coal.

No neon towers, just strip malls with massive parking lots.

We got the massive income inequality down.

High tech, low quality of life.

[-] don@lemm.ee 5 points 11 months ago

It’s already here

[-] Elephant0991@lemmy.bleh.au 27 points 11 months ago

Biometrics data that can't be changed in the control of questionable corporations? No way. It's gonna be sort of like Reddit: your data is our property, and in this case, it looks like they actually give you minimally in exchange.

[-] beefcat@beehaw.org 21 points 11 months ago

They're handing out crypto currency so you already know it's a scam before you even think about the implications of gathering this kind of biometric data.

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 8 points 11 months ago

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Mexico is one of nearly three dozen countries where participants are allowing the sphere, outfitted with cameras and dubbed an orb, to scan their iris.

The project's goal is to distinguish people from bots online, while doling out a cryptocurrency bonus as a incentive to participate.

"(Privacy) is something that doesn't worry me too much," said Jose Incera, after allowing his iris to be scanned in exchange for the equivalent of nearly $54 in Worldcoin's cryptocurrency.

In a video interview, Sam Sadle, the public policy chief at Tools for Humanity, sought to calm worries over the project's use of personal data.

Despite the professed safeguards, the project has generated concerns over security risks, including from Agneris Sampieri, a policy analyst with digital rights group Access Now.

"They don't clearly mention the time frame in which the biometric data they collect will be processed and retained," she said, adding that the ownership of the iris code is also unclear.