Worldcoin Foundation has removed the old retina code system and switched to using secure multi-party computing (SMPC) technology to protect biometric data, to increase security and transparency after being banned by many countries. question data collection practices.
According to Cointelegraph, Worldcoin Foundation has deployed a new biometric security system based on SMPC, developed in collaboration with cryptographic engineers from TACEO. This system allows retina data to be encrypted into multiple secret parts that are distributed to different parties. The parties will calculate the results on encrypted data without accessing confidential information, ensuring a high level of security for verifying the uniqueness of the biometric sample.
Worldcoin Foundation said: “By switching to SMPC, we have achieved a significant improvement in information security for our users. After safely migrating all retina code to the new system, we purged the old data.”
The transition to the SMPC system was completed in March 2024. After extensive testing, the old retina code system was safely removed in May 2024. The new SMPC system requires significant computational resources, including 1152 processing cores, 3.6 TB of memory, and 5 Gbps bandwidth across all participants.
This move by the Worldcoin Foundation is a direct response to data security concerns from data protection authorities, especially the Bavarian Data Protection Authority (BayLDA). Worldcoin Foundation and non-profit organization Tools for Humanity are currently participants in the SMPC system, and are considering additional third parties to join.
The Worldcoin Foundation's adoption of SMPC is part of a broader initiative to enhance privacy and security. Other measures introduced in 2024 include secure storage of personal information, the ability for users to remove their retina codes, and on-site age verification to prevent underage registrations.
This new SMPC system marks a significant turning point in the field of biometric security, setting a new standard for privacy protection in digital identity verification. Besides, the deletion of old retina code data is a clean and transparent action of the Worldcoin Foundation, contributing to building trust from users and regulatory agencies.
However, implementing this new technology also poses certain challenges, especially in terms of resources and accessibility. The SMPC system requires large computational resources and participants must have appropriate technical capabilities. This may limit the widespread adoption of SMPC technology in other identity verification systems.
Besides, the application of SMPC to digital identity verification also raises questions about ethics and privacy. The use of biometric data, even if encrypted, can still raise concerns about misuse and invasion of user privacy.
Worldcoin Foundation is currently working to address these issues by collaborating with regulators and non-profit organizations to ensure safe and responsible adoption of SMPC.
In the past, Worldcoin has encountered numerous problems with regulators around the world – and especially in Europe with GDPR measures – over their practices with user data. However, they have since taken measures to demonstrate their willingness to comply. In March, it open-sourced Orb's software for iris scanning and rolled out a new “personal retention” privacy feature for user data.
A month later, in April, it said it would tighten privacy checks and allow users to cancel their World ID verification.
