Worldcoin Banned in Kenya (opens in new tab)

(techcrunch.com)

37 pointsIan_Macharia2y ago15 comments

15 comments

About time someone spat into the Use APAC to juice user numbers and extract data then use that to push into US markets game.

ALittleLight2y ago

What is the alleged harm here? The article seems vague "exploitation", but the actual exchange seems clear - sell a (hash of) your retina scan for cryptocurrency.

JohnFen2y ago

It's exploitative because they're deliberately targeting disadvantaged people who have a high enough need for cash that they're more willing to sell sensitive biometric data without questioning things more deeply.

It's a pretty slimy move, at the very least.

sdfghswe2y ago

I sell my time for need of cash.

I'm not saying that worldcoin isn't bad, but my time is literally my life. If I could make as much money selling my biometric data as I do working, I'd rather do that instead.

So it seems to me that the crux isn't that people sell biometric data, but that they don't make enough off it.

ALittleLight2y ago

That's absurd - you can't buy and sell from people who are too poor?

"Sorry Kenyan, I know you'd like to make 50 dollars (or whatever it is) by selling your biometric data, but JohnFen/Kenya government/Western Media thinks you're too poor to get any money for voluntary transactions."

JohnFen2y ago

> you can't buy and sell from people who are too poor?

That's not my stance at all. My stance is that if you're leveraging an extreme power differential to get people to do things that they would not otherwise be willing to do, you're being coercive.

Worldcoin and these people are not engaging in a free exchange as equals.

2 more replies

twelve402y ago

says it right there: > gray market that surrounds cryptocurrency, especially in emerging economies, and sits far outside the authority of regulators, tax collectors and other government bodies

why does their government need a parallel, competing financial system that it doesn't control? by now even the US has banned most crypto exchanges.

tamimio2y ago

Maybe ID exploitation, like selling Kenyans ID after scanning, which is a legitimate concern.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

15 comments

gmerc2y ago

About time someone spat into the Use APAC to juice user numbers and extract data then use that to push into US markets game.

ALittleLight2y ago

What is the alleged harm here? The article seems vague "exploitation", but the actual exchange seems clear - sell a (hash of) your retina scan for cryptocurrency.

JohnFen2y ago

It's a pretty slimy move, at the very least.

sdfghswe2y ago

I sell my time for need of cash.

I'm not saying that worldcoin isn't bad, but my time is literally my life. If I could make as much money selling my biometric data as I do working, I'd rather do that instead.

So it seems to me that the crux isn't that people sell biometric data, but that they don't make enough off it.

ALittleLight2y ago

That's absurd - you can't buy and sell from people who are too poor?

JohnFen2y ago

> you can't buy and sell from people who are too poor?

That's not my stance at all. My stance is that if you're leveraging an extreme power differential to get people to do things that they would not otherwise be willing to do, you're being coercive.

Worldcoin and these people are not engaging in a free exchange as equals.

2 more replies

twelve402y ago

says it right there: > gray market that surrounds cryptocurrency, especially in emerging economies, and sits far outside the authority of regulators, tax collectors and other government bodies

why does their government need a parallel, competing financial system that it doesn't control? by now even the US has banned most crypto exchanges.

tamimio2y ago

Maybe ID exploitation, like selling Kenyans ID after scanning, which is a legitimate concern.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse