Sam Altman’s Worldcoin project poses a privacy risk due to its iris-scan feature, says Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder.
Although the system stores only hashed versions of biometric data and uses ZK-SNARKs, as well as other cryptographic methods, there is a real risk of data leakage, Buterin noted.
“If someone scans your iris, they could match it against the database to determine whether you have a World ID. Potentially this system could reveal more information about the user,” he added.
Another issue the developer highlighted is the accessibility of the Orb scanning technology. In his view, device production needs to be substantially expanded; otherwise there is a risk of a tilt toward simple, and thus more vulnerable, methods of identity verification.
The flagship Worldcoin product—the World ID protocol—is based on zero-knowledge proofs. It is a mobile tool that allows people to verify their identity without sacrificing anonymity. In addition to biometric data, a phone number can be used to confirm identity.
As a third risk, Buterin highlighted centralisation. By his words, the integrity of Orb’s design cannot be checked, leaving room for backdoors for its creators.
“To Worldcoin’s credit, they have taken on a commitment to decentralisation over time,” emphasised the Ethereum founder.
He also highlighted the security risks to users’ mobile devices themselves. If a phone with World ID is hacked, there is a possibility of “fake people” appearing and using such profiles for malicious purposes.
Nevertheless, Buterin described the concept of Sam Altman’s project as “truly valuable.” In his view, the world needs such privacy-preserving identity-verification apps. However, he noted that there is no “perfect form of identity verification” yet.
The programmer proposed combining several existing approaches based on social graphs, and hardware biometric technologies for general- and specialized-use.
Buterin added that such a solution could provide a decentralised, scalable, privacy-preserving system, safeguarded against fake personal data.
On July 24, Worldcoin announced the official launch and release of the native token WLD. The listing of the new coin has already been supported by crypto exchanges Binance, Bybit and OKX.