- After K-pop, K-novels? South Korean Nobel win sparks joy, hope at home
- After Nadal exit, Djokovic left to rage against dying of the light
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Triple centurion Brook happy to break Dad's club record
- Zelensky touts 'victory plan' against Russia in Macron talks
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- UN peacekeepers accuses Israel of firing on Lebanon HQ
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- Southgate taking year out from coaching
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- Zelensky meets Macron in Paris as part of European tour
- Hurricane Milton shreds Florida stadium roof
- UN probe accuses Israel of seeking to 'destroy' Gaza healthcare
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- England in sight of victory after Brook's triple hundred
- Juventus readmitted to ECA after failed Super League revolt
- World number 2 Alcaraz knocked out of Shanghai Masters by Machac
- Leaders of Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia meet amid regional tensions
- Klopp's Red Bull decision 'ruined life's work' say Dortmund fans
- Han Kang wins South Korea's first literature Nobel
- S. Korea's Nobel winner Han Kang a modest, thought-provoking writer
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- The almost impossible job: Beating Rafael Nadal at the French Open
- New French government faces key test with budget plan
- Rescuers say Israeli strike on Gaza school kills 28
- Italy's ex-world champion gymnast Ferrari announces retirement
- Zelensky talks 'victory plan' in meeting with Starmer, Rutte
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Federer lauds retiring Nadal's 'incredible achievements'
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Australia beat China 3-1 to resurrect World Cup campaign
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- Nadal defied injury woes in record-breaking career
- Nadal v Djokovic, French Open, 2006: Chapter One in epic rivalry
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- Pakistan at 23-1 after Brook triple hundred takes England to 823-7
- Zelensky meets Starmer, Rutte on whirlwind tour of Europe
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Rafael Nadal calls time on epic tennis career
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- Philippines confronts China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Kim Sei-young shoots 62 to take two-stroke lead at LPGA Shanghai
- The haircuts that help traumatised Ukrainian soldiers heal
- Sinner crushes Medvedev to set up potential Alcaraz Shanghai semi
- 7-Eleven owner restructures to fight takeover
- England's Harry Brook blasts triple century against Pakistan
- Chinese electric car companies cope with European tariffs
- Zelensky in London for whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Sri Lanka recovering faster than expected: World Bank
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as most markets track Wall St record
Cash-strapped Argentines queue for eyeball scans
Argentines eyeing a financial boost are lining up by the thousands to have their irises scanned in exchange for a few crypto tokens as part of an online biometrics project under scrutiny in several countries.
Some three million people worldwide have so far provided their iris data to Worldcoin, an initiative of OpenAI chief Sam Altman, but few have embraced the project more fervently than Argentines.
Half-a-million people in the South American nation have participated since Worldcoin launched last July, and queues for scans have grown longer in recent months of fast-shrinking disposable income.
"I did it because I don't have any money, for no other reason," 64-year-old martial arts teacher Juan Sosa told AFP after staring for a few seconds into a silver iris-scanning orb roughly the size of a bowling ball at one of 250 Worldcoin locations across Argentina.
The project seeks to use these iris specs -- unique to each person on Earth -- to develop a digital identification system, a sort of passport that will guarantee the holder is a real human being and not a bot, thus securing online transactions.
Volunteers do not provide any other information such as their name, address or phone number.
The personal iris data is encrypted and, according to Worldcoin, safe.
Yet Kenya, Spain and Portugal have ordered it to pause collecting biometric data on their territories pending investigations by numerous countries into possible privacy concerns.
Argentina's own Agency for Access to Public Information has said it is verifying Worldcoin's "security measures" with a view to "protecting the privacy of the users."
It has yet to make a ruling and has not suspended data collection.
"There are people going through very tough times, where one salary is not enough. That is why they do these things," Miriam Marrero, a 42-year-old supermarket cashier, said after being scanned in Buenos Aires.
"Sometimes, to have a roof over your head, you need to do other things to be able to afford it. Otherwise, in Argentina today, you can't afford a roof."
For volunteering their data, initial participants receive 10 tokens each of Worldcoin's own cryptocurrency, the WLD.
In Argentina, with its notoriously unstable exchange rate, the value differs wildly; when Sosa and Marrero received theirs, 10 tokens were worth the equivalent of about $80.
- 'Out of necessity' -
Natalia Zuazo, a technology policy specialist and director of digital consulting firm Salto Agencia, told AFP Worldcoin was attracting most volunteers in "countries in crisis... the poorest countries, because people are more likely to enter into such transactions."
Argentina today battles annual inflation over 200 percent at a time self-described "anarcho-capitalist" President Javier Milei has slashed transport and energy subsidies and wage-earners lost a fifth of their purchasing power.
In Worldcoin's own words, it seeks to become "the world's largest privacy-preserving human identity and financial network," providing "universal access to the global economy no matter your country or background."
The company insists it never has and never will sell personal data.
But the initiative has triggered alarm bells, with regulators worldwide concerned about the collection, storage and use of personal information.
According to Zuazo, person-specific biometric data such as iris specs are "ultra-sensitive" and could theoretically be employed for nefarious identification purposes.
"I don't think people do not understand the implications," she said. "They just do it out of necessity."
Student Ulises Herrera, 20, said he would never have undergone a scan without the economic incentive.
"The iris is something that cannot be changed and I don't know who has that data. That's what scares me," he told AFP.
Others are more laid back about it.
"For years I have given my personal data to many different companies, at least this one will give me money," said Federico Mastronardi, a 33-year-old musician.
Added Marrero, the cashier: "I am not afraid they will make another version of me, as long as they make a better one!"
P.Santos--AMWN