By Michael Scott
The OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman joined fellow Worldcoin project proponent Alex Blania in a meeting with the Malaysian government’s officials. The two executives met with the country’s prime minister as they eye bolstered government relations for the iris-scanning project.
Altman and Blania have since last year devoted themselves to sensitizing government officials as they scale the proof-of-personhood project. In their world tour, the duo is implementing strategies designed to showcase Worldcoin’s devotion to safeguarding privacy and personal data in response to instances of government scrutiny.
Worldcoin Proponents Meet Malaysian Government Officials
The Tools of Humanity chief executive Blania steered the talks with the Malaysian leaders, where the firm reiterated its commitment to protect users’ privacy and data. The lead developer acknowledged meeting with the digital ministry of Malaysia representatives via a Tuesday, April 23 post on X (formerly Twitter).
The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) revealed a meeting with Nordstar and the portfolio companies, including Worldcoin. The post featured Worldcoin’s chief executive among the executives present in the meeting.
The MDEC post reflected on the Friday, April 20 event where Blania, alongside Tools for Humanity co-founder Altman, held a joint video call with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Blania would disclose the meeting by reposting the Prime Minister Ibrahim’s post on Tuesday April 23 expressing gratitude to the Malaysian official.
The revelation of the Worldcoin project’s co-founders’ meeting with Malaysian government officials comes on the heels of several scrutinies by regulators. Recently, the Worldcoin project has featured initiatives taking privacy and data collection concerns seriously by engaging regulators and government officials.
The Worldcoin proponents convey the project’s main premise as assigning individual identities that will ease the process of distinguishing humans from AI-powered actors.
Reflection on Worldcoin’s Series of Scrutiny
Worldcoin has been the subject of investigations by regulators in various countries, as witnessed in Span, where the authorities imposed a temporary ban last month. Portugal would issue a halt order to the collection of personal data.
The Worldcoin initiative grants WLD tokens to individuals participating in the eyeball scanning to generate their World ID. Privacy advocates raise concerns about scanning irises with speculations on how Worldcoin manages the biometric data.
The bans issued by Spain and Portugal have become a norm for the Worldcoin project. The project attracted scrutiny, particularly in the Global South, as it issued WLD tokens for the new signups.
Worldcoin attracted scrutiny in Italy, France, Germany, and Europe. The inquiry extended to Argentina and Kenya, joined by South Korea in March, which opened an investigation into the collection of sensitive personal data.
A possible explanation for Worldcoin’s troubles is the close ties of its co-founder Altman to the project. Altman is the firm’s chief behind the high-profile ChatGPT revolutionizing AI since its unveiling.
Worldcoin proponents have, in the past, admitted surprise at the attention various governments gave to the project, catching the team unprepared for the heightened scrutiny. Leading government officials are engaging in talks with the Worldcoin team amid curiosity and concerns around AI and threats posed by deepfakes.
Tools for Humanity has undertaken a proactive approach to bolster government relations this year. Such is portrayed in the company naming Trevor Traina, who previously served as the US ambassador to Austria, as its global affairs head.
Traina revealed earlier that policymakers are inquisitive in nature. The global affairs head assured that Worldcoin contributors are devoted to the project’s safety and guided by its mission to satisfy those expectations.
Worldcoin Deploying New Measures
Worldcoin unveiled the Personal Custody in March, implying that new World ID signups will never request the encryption and storage of biometric data. The company’s product executive, Tiago Sada, hailed the Personal Custody initiative, which delivers the peace individuals desire.
Weeks later, the company announced that individuals who signed up for the World IDs could request permanent deletion of the numeric iris code attained after scanning the eyeballs. Also, the project vowed to undertake age verification to prevent signups aged below 18 years.
Worldcoin hailed the input of security and third-party privacy experts guided by the preliminary assessments. The measures are in response to the concerns raised by data protection authorities where the Worldcoin project runs.
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