The Human Institute and Animoca Brands are launching a new human identity project that uses palm recognition instead of iris scanning. The project may compete with Worldcoin in the area of data rights and will be available for third-party applications in the near future.
The protocol combines one-of-a-kind identification certainty while preserving the users’ data sovereignty. The team behind the palm recognition project has extensive experience in machine learning models, which the press release says is crucial for scaling decentralized digital identity applications. The Humanity Protocol will onboard users to its testnet soon.
Worldcoin’s Data Privacy Concerns
The Humanity Protocol arguably competes with Worldcoin’s proof-of-personhood method for identifying unique individuals. Worldcoin’s protocol requires new sign-ups to link a WorldID to their irises.
Initially, the user has to obtain a WorldID using the World app and then go to a special site that scans their eye and links the cryptographic hash of that image with a QR code on the World app. After that, the app creates a so-called zero-knowledge proof that the person exists on the system without exposing their personal data.
Regulators in Kenya banned the project, while India recently halted it due to overcrowding at iris-scanning sites. However, it recently had a successful launch in Singapore.
BeInCrypto has contacted Worldcoin for comment but has not heard back at press time.
