The eyes have it: Reddit considers World ID iris scan, so users can prove they’re human

As pressure mounts from advancing AI, age verification laws, and bot-related abuse, Reddit is exploring a partnership with Sam Altman’s World ID to verify users while preserving anonymity. The biometric system, which scans irises without storing personal data, could help Reddit prove user uniqueness and age without compromising privacy—an increasingly urgent need as regulators and researchers scrutinize identity on social platforms.

According to Semafor, two people familiar with the matter confirmed ongoing talks between Reddit representatives and World ID’s parent company about implementing the biometric verification system.

The partnership would allow Reddit users to prove they are unique individuals without revealing personal information to the platform.

Growing pressure drives identity verification urgency

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman stated last month that the service will eventually be required to verify that users are human and that they are of legal age due to AI development and age verification laws.

“We will do our best to preserve both the humanness and anonymity of Reddit,” Huffman wrote on the platform.

The urgency has intensified following incidents like University of Zurich researchers using AI to impersonate actual Reddit users in persuasion experiments. Reddit lawyers sent formal legal demands to the university in April over the unauthorized research.

Multiple U.S. states are considering or passing laws requiring internet companies to verify user ages, creating compliance pressures across the social media industry.

World ID’s sophisticated privacy architecture

World ID’s system addresses verification challenges through complex cryptographic techniques. The Orb scans users’ irises and creates encrypted representations that are fragmented and stored across secret servers globally.

To gain access to someone’s iris data, hackers would need to compromise numerous systems, rejoin fragmented data, and reverse-engineer the initial scan. Even successful attacks would not expose the person’s identity because the system contains no personal information that links biometric data to persons.

Following authentication, users acquire unique World IDs stored in locally encrypted vaults on their devices. The Orb’s age detection program refuses to scan anyone suspected of being under 18, and it includes built-in age verification features.

Reddit would reportedly offer World ID as one of several verification methods rather than the exclusive option. Users could choose from third-party providers based on their privacy preferences and security needs.

World ID — the biometric verification system using iris-scanning “Orbs” developed by Altman’s Tools for Humanity — was officially launched alongside Worldcoin (WLD) on July 24, 2023, when the project moved out of beta and began expanding operations to multiple cities worldwide.