Worldcoin pulls orbs from 3 countries, claims early success from Shopify integration

Worldcoin has shut down the use of iris biometrics-collecting orbs in India, Brazil and France, according to TechCrunch.

Iris biometrics enrollment, which backs the second of three levels of increasing identity assurance for its digital ID, had only been available in the three countries for a few months.

TechCrunch suggests that rumors have circulated in India that Worldcoin would be challenged by regulators. A spokesperson for Tools for Humanity, developer for Worldcoin, told the publication that orb operations were being temporarily scaled back in India and elsewhere, and that it is “working with partners globally to ensure it meets regulatory requirements and provides a safe, secure and transparent service for verified humans.”

The company was hiring contractors to carry out identity verification with orbs in New Delhi and other Indian cities up until October, the report says.

People can still sign up for a World ID in the scaled-back markets through the platform’s mobile app.

Free merch on Shopify runs out in 40 hours

Worldcoin celebrated its first ecommerce integration, with Shopify, by launching a pop-up store on December 13, the company says in a blog post. Worldcoin’s Shopify store sold nothing, but gave away hats to people signed up at the “Device Verification” level, and sweatshirts for those with their iris biometrics enrolled for registration at the “Orb Verification” level.

The sweatshirts were gone in 12 hours, and the sweatshirts within 40. There were 2,000 orders placed from Worldcoin users in 45 countries.

“The second generation World ID opens up new opportunities for retailers to connect with online customers in ways that simply weren’t possible before,” says Tools for Humanity Head of Product, Engineering & Design Tiago Sada. “By ensuring actions are taken by unique humans and not bots, businesses can better protect themselves against fraud while reaching as wide and fairly distributed an audience as possible.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  identity assurance  |  iris biometrics  |  Tools for Humanity  |  World  |  World ID  |  World ID Orb