Human Institute announced the launch of Humanity Protocol, a privacy-preserving biometric palm recognition technology for verifying Web3 identities. According to the press release, Humanity Protocol, developed in collaboration with Animoca Brands and Polygon Labs, was launched on the Polygon chain development kit (CDK) testnet on February 20th. Founded by Terence Kwok, Humanity Protocol aims to offer a less invasive alternative to biometric verification methods such as iris scanning.
What is Humanity Protocol?
Animoca Brands‘ co-founder and executive chairman Yat Siu believes that unlike proof of personhood solutions, which often create problems for users, Humanity Protocol will provide better equality and inclusivity for users. Yat Siu stated the following:
“Using the latest technology that relies on biometric data within the KYC scanning consensus mechanism, Humanity Protocol is building a user-centric ecosystem that can include millions in a truly decentralized and respectful solution to real digital ownership principles.”
The underlying Layer-2 network of the protocol, Polygon CDK, utilizes zero-knowledge proofs to enhance network security and includes a Proof of Humanity (PoH) consensus mechanism for identity verification.
Key Statements on the Matter
Exverse‘s founder Nikita Uriupin believes that advancements in privacy-preserving technologies like ZK-proof solutions can support the mass adoption of Web3 technologies. The prominent figure made the following statement:
“In an age of ubiquitous personal data leaks proven over time, calculations, and billions of dollars in transaction volume, Web3 solutions will bring even more trust to Web2.”
According to data from IT Governance, a total of 2,814 data breaches were reported in 2023, and over 8.2 billion documents were compromised throughout the year. Unlike Web2 data management systems, Humanity Protocol gives users full ownership of their data. According to Polygon’s co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, the protocol will pave the way for a variety of new use cases:
“Not only will it be resistant to bots but also as the world’s first blockchain ecosystem to natively integrate verifiable identity credentials into a decentralized validator network, Humanity Protocol lays the foundation for a wide range of blockchain networks and real-world applications to be built upon.”
