Worldcoin: A solution in search of its problem

Or is the idea that sama is will run a centralised private identity system that aims to replace government identity management? Then why do you need crypto?

Are they trying to replace proof of stake/proof of work with “proof of being a human being”? I don’t see how the iris scanning achieves this?

I think it’s fundamentally impossible.

If you don’t have a centralised authority verifying identity, the best thing you can get is peer-to-peer federated identity verification like PGP. But with this, identity is relative, as in “I trust a guy who trusts a gal who says this person is real”.

Re: Worldcoin: A solution in search of its problem

#6

Post by aionaiodfgnio » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 4:49 PM UTC

This is a grift I don't understand. Obviously there is no legitimate reason for it to exist, but what is the illegitimate reason? How do the people behind this scheme expect to benefit? Is it a good old fashioned pump and dump? Do they somehow expect to profit from the biometric data? Do they expect to gain political power by setting up this quasi-government? I don't get it.

Re: Worldcoin: A solution in search of its problem

#7

Post by aionaiodfgnio » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 4:52 PM UTC

konschubert wrote: post #5

I do not understand how this is supposed to prevent sibyl attacks? How do they prevent fake virtual iris scanning devices from pretending that they scanned a person that doesn’t actually exist? Or is the idea that sama is will run a centralised private identity system that aims to replace government identity management? Then why do you need crypto? Are they trying to replace proof of stake/proof of work with “proof o…

Of course it will be centralized! There is no cryptocurrency that isn't. Cryptocurrencies can't scale without centralization, and there's no way to interface with the real world without some sort of trust.

Re: Worldcoin: A solution in search of its problem

#8

Post by fvdessen » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 4:54 PM UTC

Once again it is completely ignored that the whole online identity thing is a solved problem, in the EU. Millions of Europeans use eIDAS apps daily and enjoy single-sign-on across EU websites, can sign docs, make payments etc. etc. And there’s no privacy issues thanks to the GDPR, which it turns out is not just about cookie popups

The tech is there, it works today, without crypto bullshit, and it is extremely useful. But since nobody became a billionaire out of it, nobody talks about it

Re: Worldcoin: A solution in search of its problem

#9

Post by lolinder » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 5:19 PM UTC

> While Worldcoin may have developed an algorithm that reliably distinguishes unique irises among its test pool, it’s not clear that it will work with a pool orders of magnitude larger.

This is a really key problem. The main application of biometrics today is in cell phones, and for those we operate on the assumption that we're trying to distinguish between the authorized user and a quite small pool of non-authorized people who will have physical access to the device: family members, friends, co-workers, and the occasional thief. This threat profile allows the biometric algorithm to err on the side of usability—it's more important that the algorithm consistently open the phone when shown the user's fingerprint or face than it is that there be no other human being on the planet who could open it.

Worldcoin has a very different threat profile, and it's not obvious to me that is possible to have a usable biometrics system (with an acceptably low false negative rate) that also has absolutely zero risk of hash collisions when the pool of unique people you need to distinguish is the size of the entire planet.

Re: Worldcoin: A solution in search of its problem

#10

Post by fredgrott » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 5:19 PM UTC

I have a Sam Altman story...

I did a pre-interview to work for one of Sam's first startups, the mobile one that had the date via GPS idea. Turned down going beyond the pre-interview due to concept and funding combination not being compatible with reality. You have to remember at that point in time Mobile OEMs were locking down GPS access through apps and Mobile Operators were attempting to pretend they were VCs.

Not every slide deck that gets money is a good slide deck!!