Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin had also shown concern about potential risks from digital identity projects like World, backed by OpenAI head Sam Altman. The global has registered over 13 million unique individuals through biometric authentication. This authentication confirms humanity through zero-knowledge proofs without sharing personal details.
Buterin fears that the World’s “one ID per person” solution would abolish online pseudonymity and its related internet privacy and liberty. Zero-knowledge proofs allow people to prove facts without giving out personal information, preserving privacy while creating an identity.
However, the world’s protocol involves scanning eyeballs by dedicated equipment for the release of a unique World ID. They also receive awarded WLD tokens as a cryptocurrency incentive for use.
While this offers virtues such as distinguishing between humans and robots and AI-based accounts, However, Buterin cautions that an ID can force people to publicly maintain only one identity.
Buterin advocates for a pluralistic identity system where multiple identities coexist without centralized control. He warns that rigid adoption of one ID per person could eliminate the ability to manage multiple accounts, which pseudonymity currently allows.
Vitalik Buterin urges decentralized, pluralistic digital IDs.
However, social media platforms might restrict users to a single account linked to one digital identity, reducing privacy and security options.
The world has recently expanded into the United States and introduced plans such as a Visa card and a pilot with Tinder in Japan to improve user identity clarity. However, privacy advocates continue to criticize the project’s centralized nature and biometric data collection.
Buterin also notes that zero-knowledge proof-based digital IDs are promising but a fair solution should also provide pseudonymity and avoid centralized authority over ID creation.
Nonetheless, he urges developers and policymakers to create decentralized and multi-form models of digital identities that still respect privacy but do not sacrifice usability.
