Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has raised significant privacy concerns regarding the digital identity method promoted by Sam Altman’s “World” project.
Originally branded as “Worldcoin,” the initiative is backed by Altman and Alex Blania’s organization, Tools for Humanity. It aims to differentiate humans from AI-driven bots by scanning individuals’ irises and assigning them unique blockchain-based identities.
In an in-depth commentary, Buterin discussed the use of zero-knowledge proofs, a cryptographic method intended to verify a person’s identity without directly revealing personal details. He suggested that this technique, increasingly popular, could help protect social platforms, voting systems, and various internet services from manipulation by bots and sybil attacks. Yet, he cautioned that while such methods appear beneficial and privacy-friendly on the surface, fundamentally they still depend on creating a “one-person-one-ID” system, potentially jeopardizing user anonymity.
Buterin stressed that pseudonymity, critical for personal security and freedom online, requires a person to maintain multiple separate identities. A singular identification system—even a privacy-preserving zero-knowledge model—might compromise this protection by encouraging or even enforcing a single public identity.
As an example, Buterin referenced a recent practice introduced by the U.S. government, demanding international students and scholars applying for visas to make their social media accounts public so authorities could assess potential hostility. He warned that even without explicit public links between identities, governments or other agencies could force users to disclose their secrets, thereby accessing a comprehensive record of a citizen’s online activities.
Instead of a single centralized way of confirming identity, Buterin advocates for ‘pluralistic identity’ models, where no sole authority has complete control. Pluralistic systems could be explicit, where credibility derives from attestations by previously confirmed users, or implicit, relying on a combination of diverse identity verification methods. According to Buterin, these pluralistic approaches represent the most realistic and secure path forward.
