In the midst of AI being weaponised in today’s fast-paced digital era, technology company, Tools for Humanity, has built a global digital passport – World ID – which is able to decentralise data without compromising privacy on the Internet. It also acts as a genuine and unique digital passport to ensure that it helps verify our identity – human or bot.
Tools for Humanity launches World ID to combat deepfakes, bots
IN the current digital landscape, where artificial intelligence (AI) is steadily catching up in the race against humans, we find ourselves struggling to distinguish between the real and the fake. As deepfakes and bots turn into digital weapons, authenticity and uniqueness are slowly losing their place on the World Wide Web.
Discussing the matter with Tools for Humanity, Chief Product Officer, Tiago Sada, added that CAPTCHAs or ‘click the bus to prove you are not a bot’ no longer work when verifying our identities on the Internet. The tools that were built to keep the bots out have become redundant and obsolete, he lamented.
“There was a news article saying that in Malaysia, scammers used deepfake videos of local public figures to promote fake investment platforms. That’s not clever editing; that’s generative AI being weaponised. And the scary part? People are getting scammed because they can’t tell what’s real and what’s fake anymore,” said Tiago.
According to comprehensive data and research compiled by Digital Business Lab, Malaysians practise a mobile-first norm whereby we rely heavily on our devices. Seventy-five per cent of Malaysians use the internet regularly to read news and keep up to date with current events, while 72 per cent use it to keep in touch with friends via social media. Adding to the data, 96.4 per cent of Malaysian internet users have access to the internet through a smartphone.
Social Media User Penetration in Malaysia by Digital Business Lab:
● As of January 2022, 89 per cent of people in Malaysia use social media. This marked a rise of 43 per cent from 2016, when social media users accounted for only 62 per cent of Malaysia’s entire population.
● There was an increase of 8 per cent in social media users from 2021 to 2022.
● WhatsApp sees the highest number of users with a penetration rate of 93.2 per cent, followed by Facebook at 88.7 per cent and Instagram at 79.3 per cent (Kepios, 2022).
● Similarly, Singapore and Indonesia both see the top three platforms as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.
● Malaysia is the leading video-consuming country in Southeast Asia, with an average of 7.2 hours a week spent watching online videos.
● Malaysians spend about an average of three hours a day on social media (Statista, 2021).
● There is an average of 8.2 social media platforms used per person each month.
Global digital passport – World ID
Understanding the current digital landscape and its dangers, Tiago and his team at World built a system called World ID – a global digital passport – which helps to identify between bot and human seamlessly without the hassle of ‘Are you a bot?’. By holding this passport, this proof-of-personhood (PoP) is able to confirm whether the user is genuine and unique without revealing any information.
“Once verified, you receive a cryptographic proof that lives on your device, fully encrypted and completely under your control. No tracking, no profiling. Just a quiet and secure way to say, ‘I am human, I am real, and that’s all you need to know.’ PoP becomes the foundation for trust and how we protect digital interactions while preserving the privacy of everyone online,” he explained.
How it works, Tiago further elaborated, is that when faced with an identification, the Orb verifies whether a person is real or fake. Then, it will issue a cryptographic stamp to a user’s World ID that only lives in their device. “The Orb deletes everything else – no information is stored, no central database to hack. So even if someone creates a perfect AI version of you, they still can’t use your World ID. And when you go online, you can prove you’re human – without revealing anything about who you are.”
In another way to put it, being issued a cryptographic stamp on one’s World ID is like going to a concert. “You don’t need to tell the staff your name or show your ID – you just present your ticket, which proves you’re allowed in without revealing anything personal about you. No names, no extra details, just a simple way to prove: ‘I’m legit. I have access.’”
Crucial for a decentralised digital identity
We know that AI can spin up fake identities at scale; thus, centralised identity systems become high-value targets. One breach and millions of people are suddenly vulnerable. In recent years, we have heard of one too many data breaches whereby sensitive data is stored in one place, and it becomes too big to protect.
Understanding this, Tiago said that World ID was built in a way where once verified, the data will be transferred back to the user’s device and immediately deleted from the Orb. The result – a unique code – is then handled using Anonymised Multi-Party Computation (AMPC). This means that the anonymised data is split into pieces and distributed across servers run by independent third-party institutions with no direct affiliation to the World Foundation or Tools for Humanity. No single entity has access to the full data, and no one can reconstruct it.
In the long run, the vision for World ID is to make decentralised identity seamless and run quietly in the background of everyday life. “Whether you’re signing into apps, sending money, or interacting through AI agents, your PoP moves with you securely and privately. We’re already seeing this take shape with partners like Razer and MiniApps like World Chat, Freelancer, and Sage AI, but it won’t stop there. As PoP becomes essential to the digital experience, we’re working to integrate it across even more platforms and real-world applications.”
“Take ticketing, for example. Bots often flood online systems and grab tickets for concerts, public services, or limited drops, pricing real people out of experiences meant to be human-first. World ID shifts that dynamic. By proving you’re a real, unique person, you get fair access to digital services – no bots, no spam, just real people getting a fair shot,” added Tiago.
A decentralised digital identity also opens the door to better governance. Tiago shared his vision also – “Instead of one-token-one-vote, we can unlock one-person-one-vote systems that prioritise fairness and human inclusion. When paired with real-world incentives like coupons, referrals, or user-owned platforms, the potential grows. You can reward real people, reduce abuse, and build communities where trust is built in.”
Integration into iOS and now Android
After launching its pilot platform on iOS, World ID credentials recently launched on Android in Malaysia as it aims to expand access to secure, privacy-preserving identity for more people across the country. For individuals, especially those without easy access to an Orb, this means they can now verify their World ID using passport credentials directly on their iOS or Android device and access a growing ecosystem of apps and services – all without compromising their privacy.
For developers and businesses, the momentum is just as exciting. Expanding World ID Credentials to Android means more verified users, more real engagement, and fewer barriers to scale. As of January 10 this year, World Network has surpassed 10 million verified humans, and the shift towards PoP is gaining real traction globally.
Recent surveys by Tools for Humanity show that 91 per cent of people in South Korea and 84 per cent in Peru support implementing human verification technologies to help distinguish people from bots online. With more real humans entering the ecosystem, developers and businesses can now build MiniApps directly into the World App and reach verified audiences, not bots, using tools like push notifications, World ID sign-in, and gas-free transactions. It’s a way to build digital experiences around trust by default.
“This is just the beginning. As World ID expands, we’re focused on making trust a native part of the internet. That’s why we kicked off the Developer Rewards Programme – to support builders creating human-first apps that integrate PoP into everyday use. We’re already seeing momentum build in Malaysia, and we’re excited to see where it goes next,” shared Tiago.
