World expands Android support for World ID credentials

World’s positive relationship with Malaysia continues, with the launch of Android support for World ID Credentials in the country, following iOS support last year. A post on World’s website says that “as of Jan 31, 2025, the passport World ID Credential is available on both iOS and Android devices in select countries including Chile, Colombia, Malaysia and South Korea.”

SME Asia quotes Ajay Patel, Head of World ID at Tools for Humanity, who says “expanding Android support for World ID Credentials is a major milestone in making the World Network more accessible globally.”

“With stronger security, anonymity protection, and seamless usability, this expansion will drive greater engagement and adoption, benefiting both users and developers alike.”

Per the blog, credentials can be added to a person’s World ID whether or not they have verified their humanness at an Orb, World’s spherical biometric capture device for scanning irises. With the introduction of the World ID Passport Credential, that includes “the world’s estimated 1.2 billion passport holders, who may not be close to an Orb but who have valid forms of identification to join and benefit from World Network more meaningfully.”

Verification on World Network comes with allocated WLD tokens, the project’s native cryptocurrency. Amounts vary depending on how users verify; running totals are here. World, however, has specified that “there is absolutely no exchange of money or tokens when a person verifies their World ID,” seemingly in contradiction to their own data.

World has been aggressively expanding since October, when it refashioned itself out of its previous incarnation, Worldcoin. It says its network now has more than 11 million “verified humans” who have had their irises scanned by an Orb. It claims that as of January 2025, its Mini Apps were “seeing as many as 5.4 million opens per day from over 1 million unique humans.” And it boasts of more than 23 million World IDs created to date.

It is also touting its “anonymized multi-party computation” (AMPC) system, which a post on X says is now fully implemented – “open source, quantum-secure privacy protection for the age of AI and AI agents.”

Finally, a blog says Chainlink CCIP, a standard for cross-chain interoperability, is now available to developers on World Chain, who can leverage CCIP to build applications that can transfer tokens, send messages and initiate transactions with more than 20 blockchains.

As of January 2025, World Chain was maintaining the highest UOPS/TPS ratio of any Ethereum blockchain. Per the release, “this provides a strong signal that World Chain is mostly comprised of real humans using apps and not bots doing automations” – good news for a company shopping proof of personhood (PoP).

Psst, buddy… want some cash for your eyeballs?

In a startling story out of Argentina – where World has been popular, but also faced regulatory challenges – police arrested three women and two men for “allegedly illegal activities linked to virtual crimes.” A report from La Nacion says the culprits were found offering passersby cryptocurrencies or cash in exchange for iris biometrics.

World, however, was not involved. This was a much smaller operation, running out of a parking lot. A shopping mall employee alerted authorities about the activities.

In the raid, the police seized a Volkswagen sedan, 29 cell phones and more than $600,000 in cash. Courts have ordered an extension of the investigation to determine the full scope of the detainees’ activities.

La Nacion notes that “the practice of recruiting people in public spaces to trade their iris biometrics in exchange for cryptocurrencies has increased significantly in recent months in different parts of the country.” With the publicity around World’s efforts, others may be trying to take advantage for criminal ends.

Security experts fear many people are submitting their iris or retinal scans to entities without understanding the risks of identity theft and identity fraud that come with personally identifying data.

Argentina’s Personal Data Protection Act requires informed and explicit consent for the processing of biometrics, although La Nacion points to “a legal loophole regarding the collection and storage of biometric data.”

And with AI making it easier to create synthetic identities using a combination of real and fake personal data, there is concern about the potential development of fraud rings that twist World’s biometric data collection processes into a back-alley swindle.

Judicial authorities in Santa Fe are recommending that people not give away biometric data without knowing its destination and true purpose.

Article Topics

Android  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  iris biometrics  |  World  |  World Chain  |  World ID