Humanity Protocol, a first privacy identity network and high-profile rival to Sam Altmans WorldCoin, fired up his mainnet and debuted a system that connects well-known web2 legitimation information to decentralized web3 services using zero-knowledge transportation security (Zktls).
The introduction comes only months after the Hong Kong-based startup raised $ 20 million in a financing round co-led by Jump Crypto and Pantera Capital and lifted its valuation to $ 1.1 billion.
Humanity Protocol’s ZKTLS technology allows users to prove that they have seen verifiable information, such as job records or status of airline, without revealing the underlying document or page.
Sensitive data never leaves the user’s browser and avoids the concerns about privacy that have filled biometric approaches, including Worldcoin’s iris scan model.
Originally, travelers are able to link frequent-flyer and loyalty accounts directly to their “human ID”, creating a portable reputation layer that can be used across both web2 and web3 applications.
The network also supports financial, educational and professional credentials. In the future, it plans to roll out node infrastructure in new regions as well as to venture into ticketing and decentralized governance.
“Our mainnet release transforms decentralized identity into practical infrastructure,” said founder and CEO Terence Kwok. “With Zktls now lives, anyone can confirm who they are and what they have achieved across multiple platforms, yet no central party ever sees their personal information.”
By relying on cryptographic evidence rather than physical biometrics, the humanity protocol protocols itself as a more privacy-conscious alternative to WorldCoin and other “proof-of-human” projects.
The network’s architecture allows developers to build Sybil-resistant social platforms, reputation-based marketplaces and AI “humanity control” without collecting or storing sensitive user data. A Sybil attack occurs when a person or device creates more fake identities within a network, often to get a reward such as an air drop or disproportionate control of a network operations.
