Internet
Worldcoin project docks with Telegram and Reddit
In addition to Open AI, Sam Altman also takes care of his Worldcoin project. The World ID is to be integrated into online platforms such as Minecraft or Reddit. photo
© Stephen Brashear/AP/dpa
As head of OpenAI, Sam Altman has his hands full. As a part-time job, he also takes care of the ID project Worldcoin, which is intended to distinguish human beings from software robots.
The World ID digital ID card from the controversial Worldcoin project by OpenAI boss Sam Altman will in future help various online platforms to distinguish human users from software robots. An expanded protocol will be integrated into the registration processes for the gaming platform Minecraft as well as the social networks Reddit and Telegram, among other things. The company Tools for Humanity (TFH), which developed and operates the World app, announced this in San Francisco.
The World ID is also embedded in the online trading companies Shopify from Canada and Mercado Libre, a retail market leader from Argentina. So far, the World ID has been used primarily on the Gaming platform Discord is used to provide proof that an account holder is actually a human being. In the future, it will also be possible to track, for example, how many accounts an owner has already created on a platform.
Data protection concerns
According to TFH, around five million people worldwide currently have a World ID. More than half of the users also had their eyeballs scanned in order to be able to fully use 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 mistrust by politicians and authorities. The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision and the banking regulator Bafin announced investigations. Results are not yet available.
The new version 2.0 of World ID now offers four tiered verification levels to give developers the choice of how strict the requirements should be in order to identify themselves as a human. The World ID Pro variant also requires a facial scan, similar to the unlocking methods on modern smartphones. The strictest variant, World ID Max, requires another iris scan.
In Germany, Worldcoin currently offers the opportunity to have 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 anything crypto-related, this was very difficult because things in crypto tend to be forever and ever.” But a technical solution has been found for this.
TFH GmbH, founded by Sam Altman and German computer scientist Alex Blania, has offices in Erlangen, San Francisco and Berlin. Sada told the German Press Agency that Altman was “as committed as ever” to Worldcoin. Altman took part in the important discussions and actively contributed to many innovations. “Of course his main job is that of CEO of OpenAI. But he is part of the team.”