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Edward Snowden Slams Sam Altman's Worldcoin: 'Don't Catalogue Eyeballs'

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141–150 of 318 posts

Re: Edward Snowden Slams Sam Altman's Worldcoin: 'Don't Catalogue Eyeballs'

#141
post #49
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I don't care about Worldcoin (I think it will fail, because they are solving the problem that does not exist), this post is false in multiple ways. First, retina scanning output hash is deterministic - it is supposed to generate the same result for the same eyeball. So it can't be replaced with random number generation. Second, network does not interpret hashes, except for making sure that single hash is awarde…

>I think it will fail, because they are solving the problem that does not exist Admittedly I never bothered to read about it but the problem they are solving is purely the distribution. Currently there's just no way to do a fair distribution where everyone gets equivalent amounts of it except perhaps with KYC but then they have to store way more personal data. I'm much more comfortable with someone having a hash base…

Well a passport can always be faked. If the world became a totalitarian dystopia and you were a freedom fighter that had to elude detection, you can always use a fake passport. Faking biometrics is much harder if they already have your data.

Re: Edward Snowden Slams Sam Altman's Worldcoin: 'Don't Catalogue Eyeballs'

#142
post #109
post #8

Worldcoin issues tokens to people for scanning their retinas. Their magical orb device sends a biometric hash to their network. Here's my take on it: You can possibly replace their biometric device with a random hash generator. * If it works, it means the currency is not fairly distributed, but anyone sending valid hashes to their network is issued tokens, irrespective of whether the eyeballs described by those hashe…

I'm not here to support worldcoin because I think it's a bad idea. However, proof-of-work is also a bad idea. What bitcoin is is a decentralized clock rewarding random machines every tick. It produces bad dynamics. Parento distribution of reward, huge amount of energy waste. All so rich people (Yes, most bitcoin is held by a few rich people) can transfer wealth. It's a stupid idea. You can appreciate it's simplicity…

It's not a stupid idea. It's the invention of digital scarcity. It is supposed to be real world costly.

High energy use in itself is not the issue, it's CO2 emissions. Energy can be locally abundant, renewable, yet remote, hard to transport to civilization. That would be an idealistic example of sustainable mining. Bitcoin mining isn't fully at that level of sustainability yet, but it's a solvable problem.

Bitcoin isn't for rich people. It's for all people. It's highly popular in deeply inflationary regimes, amidst refugees and particular immigrants. The fastest growth in Bitcoin addresses for years has come from the African continent.

Re: Edward Snowden Slams Sam Altman's Worldcoin: 'Don't Catalogue Eyeballs'

#143
post #8

Worldcoin issues tokens to people for scanning their retinas. Their magical orb device sends a biometric hash to their network. Here's my take on it: You can possibly replace their biometric device with a random hash generator. * If it works, it means the currency is not fairly distributed, but anyone sending valid hashes to their network is issued tokens, irrespective of whether the eyeballs described by those hashe…

I bet the people who around with the orbs will get the iris hashes they collect as a downline and the whole thing will just be a new permutation of crypto MLM.

Re: Edward Snowden Slams Sam Altman's Worldcoin: 'Don't Catalogue Eyeballs'

#144
"20% of all Worldcoin tokens will be set aside for the development team. In crypto, this used to be known as a “premine” and ranks among the biggest red flags that a project is intended to enrich insiders." https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/10/25/why-everyone-is-mad...

Re: Edward Snowden Slams Sam Altman's Worldcoin: 'Don't Catalogue Eyeballs'

#145
post #89
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't call the coin distribution fair if the creators can allocate arbitrary amounts to themselves, which the Worldcoin creators appear able to do. Then again, even PoW coins with no premine can be unfair if most of the long-term supply gets distributed in just the first few years, leaving only crumbs for late adopters.

>Then again, even PoW coins with no premine can be unfair [...] It's "fair" if you're referring to equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.

Equal opportunity not equal outcomes is a huge red herring when talking about equality.

Most public places used to have bathrooms which anyone could walk into but no one could easily roll into on a wheelchair. That was equal opportunity.

Nowadays many places have been mandated to have bathrooms such that anyone who uses the space can access a bathroom without difficulty. That is an enforced equal outcome.

Which is the correct approach?

Re: Edward Snowden Slams Sam Altman's Worldcoin: 'Don't Catalogue Eyeballs'

#146

It's such a gross subversive of the technology. Satoshi created bitcoin so no one would have control of the money supply So con artist and VCs created "crypto" where every con artist has there own money

True, VCs really hate Bitcoin. They can't control it, it doesn't give them data the rest of us can't already see, they can't roll out software updates, it's too late for early phase mining.

When VCs hate it, it means it really, really good.

Re: Edward Snowden Slams Sam Altman's Worldcoin: 'Don't Catalogue Eyeballs'

#148

I thought I'd look at the actual company after hearing about this. I'm just not a silicon valley person. Here's their how it works page - https://worldcoin.org/how-it-works . It includes a projection graph that has a scale in 500m user increments and 2 years. Then you have the real data: over 6 months they've signed up 120k users. Or to put it another way - their real data doesn't even appear on the scale that their…

To protect the device getting cracked, couldn't you just have it send a message if/when the device is opened in a way it shouldn't (e.g. for inspection) and thus make that key invalid?

Sure and maybe that slows people down a bit, but the second device they get their hands on they’ll be smarter. This isn’t a new issue, look at video games, look at blu ray and hd dvd, security against a sophisticated attacker with physical access is almost impossible. It’s rare for video games to last 1 week before being cracked, and that’s not even for something important.

Re: Edward Snowden Slams Sam Altman's Worldcoin: 'Don't Catalogue Eyeballs'

#150
post #144

"20% of all Worldcoin tokens will be set aside for the development team. In crypto, this used to be known as a “premine” and ranks among the biggest red flags that a project is intended to enrich insiders." https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/10/25/why-everyone-is-mad...

So basically XRP but with even worse privacy implications.
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