2024-03-26 17:04:20
Experts told EL DÍNAMO how harmful the sale of iris is and why it is important for countries to regulate data protection.
Worldcoin, a company promoted by Sam Altman, director of the ChatGPT artificial intelligence system, is dedicated to buying people’s irises in exchange for 25 cryptocurrencies.
Through the eyeball scanthe company is looking to create digital IDs for data collection.
The global campaign Worldcoin has traveled to 120 countries, including Chile, and it already has more than 4 million registrations, a figure that continues to grow at rates of 400 thousand per week.
In the midst of the global alert for this type of practices, Spain ordered temporary ban on Worldcoin iris scanning for the next three months.
In that sense, a lawyer and an Electronic Civil Engineer explained to THE DYNAMO lo harmful that the sale of iris is and why it is important for countries to regulate data protection.
What information does the Worldcoin company collect with iris scanning?
David Ruete, Electronic Civil Engineer and director of the UNAB School of Engineering, Viña del Mar Headquarters, told THE DYNAMO that, through the purchase of iris, Worldcoin “images are collected that are used to create an IrisCode, which is basically a mathematical representation of the iris. Additionally, these can be used to verify that the person being scanned is real and not an image, and can be collect additional data such as age, gender and ethnicity.”
Why is the sale of iris harmful?
The UNAB academic specified that The sale of irises can be harmful since it “directly affects privacy.” because it could allow institutions to have unique data in their possession for the purpose of tracking and monitoring people without their consent.”
In that sense, he added that “Biometric data like the iris is very sensitive and could be stolen or hacked. If iris data is stolen, it could be used to impersonate people or to commit other crimes. “Although iris cloning is very complex, the effectiveness of cloning will depend on the recognition system with which it interacts.”
Along with this, the manager assured that the sale of irises can increase discrimination in general, since “the use of the iris for identification could lead to discrimination against people based on reasons of race, gender, ethnicity or disability“.
Ban on iris scanning in Spain
The Spanish National Data Protection Agency (AEPD) prohibited iris scanning, so the company you will not be able to continue attracting new users and you will have to block all personal information you already have in your possession, preventing it from being used.
Érika Tribaldos, Spanish lawyer – Itzi, revealed to THE DYNAMO that “the consent that people give when selling their iris is a consent that It is not associated with transparent information on the part of the company, since they must explain how the data obtained will be used, how long it will be kept and what use will be given to the data obtained, but this does not happen here.”
“The problem lies in the ignorance behind all this. “We must understand that the economic compensation that they are giving us as interested parties will, over time, be a much more valuable piece of information and that its value will increase, but everything behind it will be an even greater benefit for these companies,” Tribaldos warned.
“With technological advances, new scenarios are created in which violate people’s rights, So it is important that legal protection scenarios are established in accordance with these new technological realities,” added the lawyer.
Tips to protect yourself from data breaches
In the midst of this scenario, David Ruete, an academic at UNAB, provided a series of tips for the protection of personal data.
- Be aware of the information you share online: Do not share personal information that is not necessary.
- Use strong and unique passwords: Do not use the same password for different accounts.
- Please read the terms and conditions before using any online service: Make sure you understand how your data will be used.
- Use privacy tools: There are many tools available to help you protect your privacy online.
- Stay up to date on the latest privacy threats: It’s important to be aware of the latest ways hackers and other malicious actors may try to steal your data.