Worldcoin halts Orb verification in India, Brazil and France

The Worldcoin project by Sam Altman has disabled offline Orb biometric verification for users in India, Brazil and France. Moneycontrol reports.

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? Scoop: Sam Altman’s Worldcoin discontinues offline Orb verification services in India

Sam Altman’s crypto project Worldcoin has stopped offline ‘Orb’ verifications and biometric identity-based user onboarding in India.

This was in the wake of huge number of people queuing up…

— Chandra R. Srikanth (@chandrarsrikant) December 21, 2023

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According to the publication, the company quietly halted verification processes in India about three to four months ago. However the Tools for Humanity Foundation, which oversees Worldcoin, explained that Orbs were originally an initiative with ‘restricted access’ in several countries.

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The iris-scanning procedure was likely paused amid long queues.

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In a conversation with TechCrunch, Lily Gordon, a representative of Tools of Humanity, said the company remains committed to \”working with partners around the world to ensure regulatory compliance and to provide safe, reliable and transparent services for verified users\”.

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The main product of the project — the World ID protocol — is based on zero-knowledge proofs. It is a tool that allows people to pass identity verification using biometric data or a phone number.

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In December Worldcoin unveiled World ID 2.0, which is integrated with several platforms, including Telegram, Reddit, Shopify and Minecraft, for passwordless authentication

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Earlier, authorities in United Kingdom, France, Germany, Kenya and Argentina showed interest in the project’s activities.