Millions of people have had their eyeballs scanned for $86. Australians can’t (yet)

There’s a buzzy technology company that’s given millions of people around the world less than $100 in cryptocurrency to scan their eyeballs using a metallic orb to prove they’re “actually human”. But Australians can’t hand over their biometric data — at least not yet.

Last week was the official launch of Worldcoin, a new project which seeks to solve one of the thorny problems in tech: how to create a system that can tell who is a human and who is not. 

It’s something that has become more of a pressing issue with the release of the latest generation of publicly available artificial intelligence technologies, led by ChatGPT, with output that is increasingly indistinguishable from a human’s output. This presents a problem for individuals, companies and governments trying to verify whether they’re dealing with real people or artificial intelligence-powered spam, scam and frauds. Fittingly, one of Worldcoin’s co-founders is Sam Altman, who is also the CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI.

Worldcoin works by scanning people’s irises, creating a digital fingerprint known as a hash, and linking that data to a digital identification — called a “World ID” — on the blockchain. In theory, this can then be used to confirm that someone is who they say they are without knowing their real name or retaining their iris data.

In return, people are given a sign-up bonus of 25 Worldcoins (worth A$86.32 at the time of writing). Altman has even proposed that World ID could one day be used to securely distribute a universal basic income — a regular welfare payment to everyone — as a way of counteracting the economic instability from artificial intelligence disrupting employment as we know it.

What this all looks like in practice is a silver metal sphere called the “Orb”. About the size of a basketball and weighing 2.8 kilograms, the Orb is the physical technology that is responsible for scanning irises and storing the data. Worldcoin employees known as “Orb operators” assist with the process of creating an account on the Worldcoin app and then scanning irises. As of last week’s launch, there were 1500 Orbs being used to sign up users in 35 cities across the world, including New York, London, Dubai and Berlin. It does not include Australia, a spokesperson for the company said.

“The project does not currently have plans to have an Orb in Australia. We will keep you posted should anything change,” the spokesperson told Crikey in an email. They didn’t answer questions about why Australia had been skipped.

Regulators across the world have already flagged Worldcoin as the subject of investigations about its collection of private biometric data. Investigations from outlets like BuzzFeed News found that Worldcoin used deceptive marketing during its beta testing to sign up users without understanding the technology. The company claims that its technology is built in a way that means there’s no risk that people’s unique biometric data could be breached. 

But privacy concerns haven’t stopped the company from early success. The company already has signed up 2 million users. Rest of World, a news publication that covers technology outside the Western world, spoke to people lining up in places like Kenya, India and Hong Kong. While concerned about what could happen to their data and sceptical about Worldcoin’s purpose, there was a common factor between those eager to scan their eyeballs.

As one person lining up with their mother told the publication: “At least you get money from it.”