Alleged former Worldcoin employee says they’re in contact with authorities
An individual calling themselves Nadir Hajarabi, who claimed to have previously worked for Worldcoin, has alleged the human identity verification project may have committed illegal acts during their employment.
In an Aug. 23 YouTube video, Hajarabi said they witnessed “very questionable” activities at Worldcoin including “sloppy and/or illegal things” prior to quitting the project before its token launch on July 24. They claimed the organization was holding some of their pay, and were speaking with authorities in different jurisdictions as part of probes into Worldcoin.
According to Hajarabi, the Worldcoin project had a “horrendous execution” which involved cutting corners ahead of the release of its white paper, and they had seen red flags “from day one”. They said they contacted the Worldcoin CEO and the organization’s legal team but did not receive satisfactory answers for the alleged discrepancies in its mission versus execution.
Cointelegraph was unable to independently verify Hajarabi’s claims, though a photo posted to X appeared to show them with one of the project’s iris-scanning orbs. Their YouTube channel, created in September 2013, featured only one video with the allegations against Worldcoin. An X account which appeared to be controlled by the same individual posted a photo of an ETHGlobal Paris badge with Hajarabi’s name and affiliation with Worldcoin.
A LinkedIn page of Hajarabi appeared to be connected to the same individual in the YouTube video — a Paris resident with experience in nonfungible tokens, web3 projects, and smart contracts. Cointelegraph reached out to Worldcoin for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
The Worldcoin project started with the intention of distinguishing real people from bots by providing retinal scans for identity verification through the orbs. There were more than 2 million sign-ups prior to the launch of the Worldcoin token in July.
Related: Worldcoin launch sparks debate over data privacy and future of AI
Ahead of the launch of the Worldcoin token and verification process, many in and out of the crypto space criticized the project, citing privacy concerns over user data. The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision reportedly began investigating Worldcoin in November 2022 while the French National Commission on Informatics and Liberty reportedly called its data collection methods “questionable.” The Information Commissioner’s Office in the United Kingdom has also raised similar concerns over the project.
In August, Kenya’s minister of internal security announced it would suspend Worldcoin’s local operations until authorities had the opportunity to assess any potential risk to residents, which reportedly included a raid and seizure of the organization’s equipment. Argentina’s Agency for Access to Public Information later announced a probe into Worldcoin’s collection, storage and use of customer data, citing security and privacy concerns.
Magazine: ‘Moral responsibility’: Can blockchain really improve trust in AI?
Politics
Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government dies aged 94
Norman Tebbit, the former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government, has died at the age of 94.
Lord Tebbit died “peacefully at home” late on Monday night, his son William confirmed.
One of Mrs Thatcher’s most loyal cabinet ministers, he was a leading political voice throughout the turbulent 1980s.
He held the posts of employment secretary, trade secretary, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Conservative party chairman before resigning as an MP in 1992 after his wife was left disabled by the Provisional IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.
He considered standing for the Conservative leadership after Mrs Thatcher’s resignation in 1990, but was committed to taking care of his wife.
Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit in 1987 after her election victory. Pic: PA
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called him an “icon” in British politics and was “one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism”.
“But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism, which inspired us as he rebuilt his political career after suffering terrible injuries in the Brighton bomb, and cared selflessly for his wife Margaret, who was gravely disabled in the bombing,” she wrote on X.
“He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised. Our nation has lost one of its very best today and I speak for all the Conservative family and beyond in recognising Lord Tebbit’s enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country.
“May he rest in peace.”
Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Pic: PA
Tory grandee David Davis told Sky News Lord Tebbit was a “great working class Tory, always ready to challenge establishment conventional wisdom for the bogus nonsense it often was”.
“He was one of Thatcher’s bravest and strongest lieutenants, and a great friend,” Sir David said.
“He had to deal with the agony that the IRA visited on him and his wife, and he did so with characteristic unflinching courage. He was a great man.”
Reform leader Nigel Farage said Lord Tebbit “gave me a lot of help in my early days as an MEP”.
He was “a great man. RIP,” he added.
Lord Tebbit as employment secretary in 1983 with Mrs Thatcher. Pic: PA
Born to working-class parents in north London, he was made a life peer in 1992, where he sat until he retired in 2022.
Lord Tebbit was trade secretary when he was injured in the Provisional IRA’s bombing in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference in 1984.
Five people died in the attack and Lord Tebbit’s wife, Margaret, was left paralysed from the neck down. She died in 2020 at the age of 86.
Before entering politics, his first job, aged 16, was at the Financial Times where he had his first experience of trade unions and vowed to “break the power of the closed shop”.
He then trained as a pilot with the RAF – at one point narrowly escaping from the burning cockpit of a Meteor 8 jet – before becoming the MP for Epping in 1970 then for Chingford in 1974.
Lord Tebbit during an EU debate in the House of Lords in 1997. Pic: PA
As a cabinet minister, he was responsible for legislation that weakened the powers of the trade unions and the closed shop, making him the political embodiment of the Thatcherite ideology that was in full swing.
His tough approach was put to the test when riots erupted in Brixton, south London, against the backdrop of high rates of unemployment and mistrust between the black community and the police.
He was frequently misquoted as having told the unemployed to “get on your bike”, and was often referred to as “Onyerbike” for some time afterwards.
What he actually said was he grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father who did not riot, “he got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it”.
US House lawmakers have been urged by 65 crypto organizations to pass the CLARITY Act, which would hand most policing of crypto to the CFTC.
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