Proof-of-humanity project Worldcoin announced it will test facial recognition technology for its World App users.

The new feature "is a private 1:1 face comparison that ensures only the person who verified their World ID at an orb can" access the World App, according to a statement. The measure is designed to increase security for people using the app for tools like "online purchases, financial transactions, [and] secure sign-in applications."

The World App digital wallet is currently being used by nearly 15 million people worldwide, while about 6.7 million users have officially verified their "personhood" using one of Worldcoin's iris-scanning orbs, according to the organization. Worldcoin allocates WLD tokens to people who have their eyeballs scanned in order to prove their personhood and create a World ID.

The primary developer behind the Worldcoin project, Tools For Humanity, was co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Facial recognition via the World App is initially being piloted in select locations, according to Worldcoin.

Worldcoin battles scrutiny

Worldcoin’s efforts to bolster security with facial recognition fit into its broader strategy of improving the project’s image among government regulators. While Worldcoin has recently gained traction by launching in Poland, Austria and Malaysia, the project has sometimes triggered scrutiny in several other jurisdictions, such as Colombia. Last month, Colombia’s regulatory agency accused Worldcoin of violating the personal data protection regime.

Earlier this year, Worldcoin also suffered a setback when it was temporarily banned in Spain. Shortly after the ban, Worldcoin implemented measures designed to give users more “peace of mind” when it halted the practice of storing and encrypting people’s biometric data.

Although Worldcoin has always maintained it takes personal privacy seriously and only uses biometric data to verify a person is a human when they are in the process of creating their World ID, doling out crypto tokens in exchange for people scanning their eyeballs has been enough to alarm government agencies, especially in Europe, where data privacy is a hot-button issue.

Source : The Block Crypto News - Sep 19, 2024