World ID FAQs

What is World ID?

World ID is a secure, permissionless identity protocol that empowers millions of individuals to prove their humanness online while preserving their privacy. 

It can help to think of World ID as a global digital passport for the age of AI. It gives individuals a privacy-preserving way to authenticate as human online in a world where advancements in technology have blurred the distinction between human- and Ai-generated content.

How is World ID issued?

A World ID can be created in any World ID compatible wallet, such as World App, the first wallet built for the Worldcoin project and developed by project contributor Tools for Humanity (TFH). To receive a fully verified World ID, a person must visit an orb in-person to verify their uniqueness and humanness using their biometrics. 

The orb takes, processes and, by default, promptly deletes iris images on-device in order to create an iris code, which is a numerical representation of the texture of an iris. Unless there is explicit user consent otherwise, a message containing the iris code is the only output stored from this process. 

• Detailed information about orb verifying a World ID can be found here.
• Detailed information about iris codes and how they preserve privacy can be found here.
• Detailed information about Worldcoin data security practices can be found here.

Who can use World ID?

Anyone. World ID is an open source, permissionless protocol. All of the developer docs are freely available to the public.

Is the use of World ID linked to personal or biometric data?

World ID is designed to be used anonymously. It is not connected to its holder’s transactional wallet. Both are separate accounts with separate keys that serve different purposes.

Anyone can use World ID without providing personal information such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, social profiles, etc. Everything is optional, and no personal data is disclosed from the side of Worldcoin when you use your World ID.  

A person’s World ID is generated on their device before any biometric checks take place. Biometrics are only used to verify a person’s World ID and (if necessary) to recover it, and the underlying biometric data is not shared with any third-party when using World ID. 

World ID is neither a set of iris images nor the iris code generated from those images. Instead, the iris code that the orb outputs is compared against all other iris codes previously generated by all other orbs. If the person has not been verified before, their World ID is added to the list of verified World IDs. The iris images are then deleted by default, without ever leaving the orb. 

What tools are used to protect privacy when using World ID?

When a person uses their World ID, a zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) prevents third parties from knowing the person’s wallet public key or tracking the person across applications. ZKPs also guarantee that the use of World ID is not tied to any biometric data or the iris code of the person. 

World ID uses an open source protocol known as Semaphore that confirms verifications cannot be tracked to a person’s identity, nor to verifications in other applications.

• A detailed conversation about ZKPs and Semaphore can be found here.
• An overview of the most important Worldcoin privacy protections can be found here.

More information

For more information about World ID, visit the World ID page, developer docs and Worldcoin protocol whitepaper. 

Step by step information on verifying your World ID and joining the Worldcoin community can be found here.

You can also join the Worldcoin conversation on Twitter/X, Telegram, Discord, YouTube and LinkedIn, or sign up for the Worldcoin newsletter at the bottom of this page to stay up to date on the latest project developments.