WORLDCOIN-FOUNDATION
15.5.2024 15:03:34 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
The Worldcoin Foundation today announced it launched and is open sourcing a novel secure multi-party computation (SMPC) system. The system, available now in a GitHub repository for any organization to use, aims to set a new standard for data protection, including the protection of biometric data. The Worldcoin Foundation also announced that, after the migration of iris codes to the new SMPC system, the previous uniqueness-checking system, including iris codes, was securely deleted.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240515285506/en/
Worldcoin Foundation Launches, Open Sources "Perfect Secrecy" SMPC System to Help Organizations Strengthen Biometric Data Security Protections (Graphic: Business Wire)
Biometric authentication use increases as data breach frequency and impact rise
Organizations in the private and public sector increasingly require and use consumers’ biometric data for everyday services and activities, from building access and airport security to logging into healthcare and financial services apps. Underscoring the increase, a Fortune Business Insights report projected the global biometric system market size to reach $76.70 billion USD in 2029, 2.5x its total of $30.77 billion in 2022.
Meanwhile, research from MIT Professor Stuart Madnick indicates a 20% increase in data breaches from 2022 to 2023 while globally the number of victims of such breaches doubled over the same time period.
The convergence of these trends suggests a need to further advance data protection technologies. While Worldcoin is neither an authentication nor an identification use case for biometrics (the Worldcoin Foundation does not know the identity of their users), the Foundation’s new open source SMPC system can serve as a building block to set a new standard in biometric data security.
Worldcoin Foundation’s SMPC system
SMPC has been lauded by privacy and security experts alike. It can be thought of as taking one secret and sharing it in multiple parts across different parties for increased protection. Importantly, none of the individual parts alone say anything about the original secret, thus making it impossible for any individual party to decrypt the secret.
This SMPC approach demonstrates perfect information-theoretic security, meaning it is effective even against quantum-computing. SMPC systems have generally been too resource-intensive to be effectively used for large complex computations. This is why, despite their impressive privacy protective qualities, they have not yet seen extensive use in biometric template protection.
The Worldcoin Foundation, along with contributor-technologists from TACEO and Tools for Humanity, have successfully architected a new implementation of SMPC to address the scale and cost constraints that have previously hindered others. The new SMPC system, which encrypts iris codes into secret shares held by multiple parties, enabled the Worldcoin Foundation to permanently delete iris codes generated through its previous uniqueness-checking system.
“The community supporting Worldcoin will never stop developing, testing and deploying the most advanced technologies focusing on security, privacy and data protection as it works to improve trust online and increase access to the global economy,” said Jannick Preiwisch, Data Protection Officer of the Worldcoin Foundation. “Implementation of the new SMPC system enabled the Worldcoin Foundation to delete old iris codes by permanently encrypting them to SMPC shares that by themselves cannot be related to an identified person. The development of this new system demonstrates an unparalleled commitment to further compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation and other data protection regimes across the world. It also complements advancements aimed at providing consumers increased choice and control over their data including personal custody and the ability to unverify their World IDs.”
About the Worldcoin Foundation
The Worldcoin Foundation, a steward of the Worldcoin protocol, aims to realize more inclusive, fair and just institutions of governance and of the global digital economy.
About the Worldcoin Protocol
The Worldcoin protocol is intended to be the world’s largest, most inclusive identity and financial public utility and to be accessible by everyone. Worldcoin was originally conceived by Sam Altman, Alex Blania and Max Novendstern. The Worldcoin protocol is designed to empower individuals and organizations around the world with the tools they need to participate in the digital economy and advance humanity's progress. Find out more about Worldcoin at www.worldcoin.org, on Twitter/X, Discord, YouTube and Telegram.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240515285506/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
FDA Issues Modified Risk Tobacco Product Orders for 20 ZYN Nicotine Pouch Products30.6.2026 18:19:00 CEST | Press release
FDA’s decision makes ZYN the first nicotine pouch product to receive MRTP orders authorizing reduced-risk claims versus cigarettes Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE: PM) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) orders for 20 variants of ZYN nicotine pouch products. These are the first MRTP orders granted for nicotine pouches, allowing PMI U.S. to market the following claim for the authorized ZYN products: “Using ZYN instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.” “FDA’s decision is an important moment for the more than 45 million legal-age nicotine consumers in America,” saidStacey Kennedy, PMI U.S. CEO. “Today’s news ensures these adultshave access to accurate, science-based information, including FDA-authorized evidence that switching from cigarettes to ZYN reduces the risk of smoking-related diseases like heart disease
Caidya Announces Strategic Combination with Simbec-Orion Bridging Early Scientific Insight and Global Clinical Execution30.6.2026 17:00:00 CEST | Press release
Caidya today announced a strategic combination with Simbec-Orion designed to close the divide between early scientific insight and global clinical execution. The combination of Caidya and Simbec-Orion creates a differentiated specialty clinical CRO platform that enables programs to scale, maintaining focus, speed, and accountability. The strategic combination brings together complementary strengths to create a more complete development partner for innovative biopharma companies. With established operations across Europe, the Americas, APAC, and China, the combined organization provides meaningful expertise and execution capabilities in the regions that matter most. Simbec-Orion brings early-phase clinical pharmacology capabilities alongside deep therapeutic expertise for later stage complex oncology and rare disease trials, helping sponsors shape critical decisions early in the development lifecycle. Together, the organizations strengthen their ability to support complex, cross-border
Archer® Proves Purpose-Built AI Beats General-Purpose LLMs on Regulatory Change Management: 95% Verified Accuracy, 80x Faster, 92% Lower Cost30.6.2026 16:13:00 CEST | Press release
In a head-to-head benchmark, a leading general-purpose LLM was confidently wrong 35% of the time on regulatory dates. Archer Evolv™ shipped zero errors. For enterprises deploying AI in compliance, a wrong date is a missed deadline. The more dangerous failure is a wrong answer the model returns with high confidence, one that flows silently into a compliance calendar and is only discovered after the window has passed. Archer® today released results showing purpose-built AI beats a general-purpose large language model (LLM) on regulatory work, and it’s not close. This head-to-head test compared Archer’s purpose-built, vertical-specific AI and proprietary data sets against a leading general-purpose LLM, on a core compliance task: determining the publication, effective and comment-close dates of regulatory documents across six jurisdictions. General-purpose models are a genuine breakthrough, and this is no referendum on their quality. The question Archer set out to answer is narrower and mo
Altasciences Supports Key Development Milestone for Steel Therapeutics’ Lead Therapeutic Candidate, Fizurex™30.6.2026 16:08:00 CEST | Press release
Altasciences, a leading drug development organization, today announced a significant milestone in the development of Steel Therapeutics, Inc.’s pivotal toxicology study for its lead product candidate, Fizurex™, for the treatment of anal fissures. The successful completion of the study plays a significant role in the advancement of Fizurex™ toward first-in-human trials. The GLP-compliant study demonstrated a favorable safety profile, which has advanced Steel Therapeutics' plans to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for Fizurex™ to the FDA in Q3 2026. Fizurex™, a patent-pending, single-use topical wipe, was designed to provide a standardized, accessible treatment option for a painful and often undertreated medical condition. The product builds on years of use through compounding pharmacy prescriptions and is now advancing toward clinical development and regulatory review. "We are proud to have supported Steel Therapeutics with the generation of the high-quality safety d
Interactive Brokers Expands Access to Korean Equities with Launch of Nextrade ATS30.6.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
IB SmartRouting℠ Routes Orders to the Best Available Price Between KRX and Nextrade Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR), an automated global broker, today announced the launch of select Korean equities through Nextrade, South Korea's first Alternative Trading System (ATS). The addition of Nextrade builds on Interactive Brokers' earlier launch of the Korea Exchange (KRX), through which it became the first major US-based broker to provide global investors with direct access to Korean equities. Clients trading on Nextrade benefit from significantly extended trading hours and access to additional liquidity. Interactive Brokers has enabled IB SmartRouting℠ across both the Korea Exchange (KRX) and Nextrade, automatically routing orders to the venue offering the best price. This helps clients achieve best execution while providing greater flexibility and more opportunities to participate in one of Asia's most dynamic equity markets. Korea's equity market ranks among the top global exchanges by
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom