Snowden criticises Worldcoin concept

Edward Snowden, the former employee of the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) and CIA, a well-known privacy advocate, criticised the creation of a biometric data database by the Worldcoin startup.

The project by Y Combinator founder Sam Altman positions itself as its solution as a way to combat bots and fake accounts online. The device, called Orb, scans the retina and converts the image into a numerical identity code. The scan is allegedly immediately deleted and is not stored anywhere.

The startup also gives away cryptocurrency for scanning for free.

“It looks like he is creating a global database of iris-scan hashes (for ‘fairness’), and waves off the consequences by saying ‘We deleted the scans!’” — wrote Snowden.

He sees the problem in storing the obtained hashes, which can be matched to future scans.

“Do not catalogue eyeballs,” urged Snowden.

In his view, biometrics should not be used to fight fraud.

“In fact, do not use biometrics for anything… The human body is not a compost bin for tickets,” concluded Snowden.

Galaxy Digital’s head of corporate research Alex Thorn also joined in criticizing Worldcoin. In his words, the project is “so dystopian that it’s hard to believe it’s real.”

“The fact that major investors are promoting this global biometric data-gathering scheme with its large premine is so tyrannically brazen and self-serving that it should be a ‘mask-off’ moment for all observers,” Thorn said.

Back in October 2021, Worldcoin attracted $25 million in a round led by the Andreessen Horowitz fund. The round valued the startup at $1 billion.

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