Spain tells Sam Altman, Worldcoin to shut down its eyeball-scanning orbs
arstechnica.com
Cryptocurrency launched by OpenAI's Altman is drawing scrutiny from regulators.
  • Spain has moved to block Sam Altman’s cryptocurrency project Worldcoin, the latest blow to a venture that has raised controversy in multiple countries by collecting customers’ personal data using an eyeball-scanning “orb.”
  • Worldcoin has registered 4 million users, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Investors poured roughly $250 million into the company, including venture capital groups Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures, internet entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and, prior to the collapse of his FTX empire, Sam Bankman-Fried.
  • “I want to send a message to young people. I understand that it can be very tempting to get €70 or €80 that sorts you out for the weekend,” España Martí said, but “giving away personal data in exchange for these derisory amounts of money is a short, medium and long-term risk.”
  • Sharing such biometric data, she said, opened people up to a variety of risks ranging from identity fraud to breaches of health privacy and discrimination.
  • LiveLM@lemmy.zipEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    Alt text: Picture of an official Worldcoin poster that reads “Orbs in SF. July 20 - 27” overlaid with orange graffiti that reads “Orwell was right, smash the orbs”

    Source: @cryptograffti