The technology behind World ID can let people prove their age, nationality or possession of a valid ID without handing over the personal information behind it
World is opening up one of the privacy technologies behind World ID, giving developers a new way to build identity checks that can happen directly on a user’s phone rather than sending sensitive information to a third party.
The company has introduced ProveKit, an open-source zero-knowledge proving toolkit designed to let people prove facts about themselves, such as being over a certain age, holding a valid identity document or meeting nationality or residency requirements, without revealing the underlying personal data.
For users, the practical promise is straightforward. Instead of uploading a passport or ID card and trusting another company to store it securely, a person could potentially prove only the information that matters. A service checking whether someone is over 18, for example, could receive confirmation that the requirement has been met without receiving their name, date of birth or a copy of their ID.
The release lands at a moment when the risks of the status quo are hard to ignore. Security researcher Brian Krebs reported this week that a dark web service called Nexus is selling digital scans of more than 153 million drivers licenses from people in the United States and Canada, apparently siphoned from a widely used identity verification vendor whose clients include several Fortune 500 companies. The FBI has opened an investigation into the source of the breach. The records reportedly include front and back scans, infrared and ultraviolet images, and timestamps tied to everyday moments like renting a car or visiting a dispensary, all collected simply because a business asked to see an ID.
