Worldcoin Introduces Proof Of Personhood Pilot In Malaysia

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 (Bernama) -- The Worldcoin Foundation is expanding the availability of proof of personhood services to include a pilot or a beta testing phase in Malaysia.

The pilot will allow Malaysians to obtain verified privacy-preserving World IDs and join the nearly seven million people participating in the Worldcoin network today. 

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World ID is a digital passport that prioritises privacy, while the Orb is a hardware device that verifies the authenticity of the user to be human and not a bot or computer program.

Using technology such as World ID aims to improve consumer trust online and facilitate the use of digital wallets and, more importantly, without giving away personal data and information.

Fabian Bodensteiner, Worldcoin Foundation’s Europe GmbH managing director, told Bernama that Malaysia’s openness to innovation and partnerships with MY E.G. Services Bhd (MYEG) and MIMOS Bhd were key reasons for choosing the country as a launch market.

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World ID is expected to become more valuable to businesses as their credentials gain global coverage.

Tools for Humanity (TFH) built and supports the state-of-the-art iris imaging technology used to prove an individual’s personhood.

In a recent online interview, Bodensteiner told Bernama that Worldcoin is a network designed to offer a seamless method for verifying humanness, distinguishing individuals from bots and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.

He explained that World ID is a digital passport or system for verifying proof of personhood without collecting personal identifiers such as names or email addresses.

Bodensteiner said the system prioritises privacy by not collecting or storing identifying data; instead, it uses biometric verification through high-resolution imaging of a person’s iris.

“The Orb is a cutting-edge camera that takes pictures of the iris and is among the most advanced devices for verifying personhood,” he said.

He said the Orb technology was developed entirely in-house to meet World ID’s unique privacy demands.

“It takes high-resolution pictures, converting iris data into a code that can be verified without transmitting sensitive information,” he said.

Bodensteiner added that the process is supported by open-source software, and the company is actively seeking global partners to help expand the adoption of this verification standard.

Entering the Malaysian market

Touching on the Malaysian market, Bodensteiner said the Worldcoin Foundation would like to partner with businesses that want to use this technology to offer the same benefits customers currently receive ‘but with significantly less data collection’.

“Many business models require users to provide extensive personal data, sometimes even their passport, name, and addresses, just to claim certain offers or access platform advantages, ensuring there is no fraud.

“However, as we enter the market, we aim to partner with more local businesses to help them minimise the consumer data they need to collect for their business models to function,” he said.

Bodensteiner said this approach provides a strong incentive for Malaysian citizens to sign up, as it offers a privacy-preserving way to access benefits without sharing large amounts of personal data with private enterprises.

Why Malaysia?

“I have focused a significant portion of my time on Malaysia as a market, with the Worldcoin Foundation working closely with MIMOS and how together we have explored what innovation in the digital identity space could look like,” Bodensteiner said.

While many countries are in the pipeline for expansion this year, he said Malaysia’s forward-thinking approach stands out.

In August, the Worldcoin Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MIMOS, the applied research and development arm of the Malaysian government and e-government services developer and MYEG, to integrate Worldcoin technology into Malaysia’s digital infrastructure.

The MoU aims to leverage the Worldcoin protocol and TFH technologies to enhance digital credentials, underlining the importance of verifying human identity in the age of artificial intelligence.

Additionally, the tie-up would explore joint Orb manufacturing and connect World Chain, the new blockchain designed to integrate with the Worldcoin protocol, to Malaysia’s National Blockchain Infrastructure.

The Worldcoin Foundation will ensure its technology remains open source, while TFH will provide technical support for the Orb and World App.

MYEG will focus on technical integration and hardware deployment to support MIMOS’s digital initiatives.

Scaling up for global impact

Over the next five to ten years, Worldcoin’s focus will be on expanding the network until it reaches a point of widespread utility, similar to how PayPal or WhatsApp became more useful as more people adopted them.

“In five to ten years, businesses using World ID may pay fees to the network for verification services. These blockchain fees will support the network’s operation and growth.

“The scale of our network is crucial to keeping fees low. However, we are not selling the orbs as an industrial product; they are merely a tool within the network,” he added.

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-- BERNAMA