Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on Monday announced OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s new crypto project that launched its mainnet this week. worldcoin He published a new blog post detailing his concerns about
There Are Four Big Risks
In the post, Buterin highlights four major concerns with Worldcoin’s user authentication system, called “Proof-of-Personhood” (PoP).
Worldcoin claims that it can authenticate its users without storing personal data or relying on a central authority. To obtain a “Earth ID”, users must scan their irises with a device known as an “Orb”. Compatible apps, such as Worldcoin’s own wallet app, can leverage Worldcoin’s network of authenticated users to tailor their services and root out bots.
In his blog post, Buterin argues that this system has potential problems with privacy, accessibility, centralization and security.
Buterin argues, first, that scanning a person’s iris could potentially reveal more information than was intended. For example, if someone else scans the iris of a World ID holder, they can at least compare it to the Worldcoin database to determine if that person is in the system. In addition, Buterin says World IDs won’t be easily accessible to everyone, as it can be difficult to get hold of an “Orb” device.
Moreover, the “Orb” is a hardware device, and Buterin claims that “there is no way to verify that it was built correctly and has no backdoors.” He adds that “The Worldcoin Foundation still has the ability to place a backdoor into the system, thereby creating arbitrarily large numbers of fake human identities.”
Finally, Buterin raises security concerns about Worldcoin given that users’ phones could be hacked and forced to issue iris scans.
Buterin admits that there is no perfect solution to tackling these problems. “There is no ideal form of proof of personality,” Buterin writes. “Instead, we have at least three different approach paradigms, all of which have their own strengths and weaknesses.” These three approaches are known as social graphics-based, general hardware biometric, and custom hardware biometric solutions (like Worldcoin).
Buterin also adds that Worldcoin has taken some steps with its hardware that makes it superior to more traditional identification schemes, especially when it comes to user privacy. “Custom hardware systems seem to do a pretty good job of protecting privacy,” Buterin says. “But the flip side is that specialized hardware systems bring with them far greater centralization concerns.”
The newly-launched WLD token made a big splash early Monday following the mainnet launch of Worldcoin. crypto- stocks rose more than 20%.