Worldcoin launches World ID sign-ups in EU’s largest economy, Germany

Worldcoin has launched sign-ups for World ID, a privacy-first decentralized identity protocol, in Germany.

As the largest economy in the EU helps lead the way in developing AI tools in Europe, World ID will make it easier for Germany’s 60+ million adult citizens to digitally prove their uniqueness and humanness online through its AI-safe proof of personhood (PoP) credential.

Operations will start in Berlin, and individuals can identify verification locations by following Worldcoin’s social media or by consulting their World App, a World-ID compatible wallet developed by Tools for Humanity (TFH). Each location will feature the Orb, which plays an important role in the Worldcoin ecosystem. Originally developed by TFH, the Orb is the first biometric imaging device built for the Worldcoin project to verify humanness and uniqueness in a safe, secure and privacy-preserving way.

Germans have long placed a strong emphasis on privacy and data protection, as evidenced in a 2021 Statista study which found that almost 90% of adults in Germany think data protection is “very important” or “important.”

World ID and its related biometric hardware are built around privacy-preservation principles like data minimization. The technology adheres to German and European data protection laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  

The technical design and privacy components of the protocol and hardware are reflective of the project’s deep and longstanding regard for privacy and data protection. More information about the technical capabilities of the Orb can be found in the article Opening the Orb, and the privacy practices of the project are detailed in the article Privacy at Worldcoin: A technical deep dive. 

Over the past three years, core components of the Worldcoin project—including the Orb—were designed and engineered in Germany. The Orb is also manufactured there, similar to many other leading optical technologies found in leading consumer and medical products. 

The launch of World ID sign-ups in Germany is something of a homecoming, as several members of the original TFH team who conceived and made early contributions to the project are from the country, including co-founder and TFH CEO Alex Blania, engineering heads Sandro Herbig and Philipp Sippl, Fabian Bodensteiner, head of hardware and Chris Brendel, head of AI/biometrics. 

TFH has an engineering office in Erlangen, a small high-tech university town in Bavaria, as well as a corporate office in Berlin. The organization intends to expand its office space throughout Germany in the next 12 months and is actively expanding the size of its local team. Visit the careers page to explore the available roles.

Establishing secure, privacy-preserving online digital identity has long been a challenge. Even today, more than 50% of the world’s population doesn’t have a digitally verifiable legal ID. This challenge is in part why the Worldcoin project exists and why World ID was created. 

World ID is a privacy-preserving digital identity protocol designed to help individuals more safely and effectively access and engage with online services and applications in the age of AI. The protocol aims to provide proof of personhood capabilities to individuals and developers in a privacy-first, self-sovereign and decentralized way. If successful, it will become the largest network of verified humans on the internet, as a public good.  

If you are interested in becoming part of the Worldcoin project, beyond having a verified World ID, click the links to apply to help build the Worldcoin project, become a Worldcoin Operator, participate as a community specialist in your local area or become a moderator on our Discord. 

To learn more about Worldcoin’s growth throughout Europe and around the world, sign up for the blog newsletter at the bottom of this page or join the conversations on Twitter, Discord, YouTube and Telegram.