World has released the fourth major version of its World ID proof-of-human protocol, moving from a device-bound credential model to an account-based architecture with a dedicated mobile app, multi-device session support, and single-use nullifiers to prevent cross-site correlation. The release was unveiled at the company’s Lift Off event in San Francisco on April 17 and arrived with mainstream mobile-and-desktop integrations from Zoom and DocuSign.
The account-based architecture replaces the prior model in which a World ID credential was tied to the specific device used at Orb enrollment. Users now have a World ID account that supports key rotation, multi-device sessions across phones and tablets, and recovery, with cryptographic proofs generated per relying party rather than reusing a persistent identifier. Single-use nullifiers mean each verification generates a one-time token specific to the consuming service, preventing a World ID holder from being tracked across services that share verification events. An open-source SDK accompanies the release.
A new dedicated World ID mobile app, separate from the existing World App wallet, handles proof-of-human flows exclusively. The app stores the user’s verified status, manages session keys across devices, and generates verification proofs for third-party integrations without mixing in wallet or crypto functions. The split follows a pattern seen elsewhere in mobile identity, where the credential presentation surface is increasingly separated from adjacent payment or wallet logic to make the proof easier to audit and less sensitive to the parent wallet’s changes.
Zoom is adding a native integration with World’s Deep Face technology, letting meeting hosts require cryptographic proof that each participant is a live human matched to their enrolled identity rather than a deepfake video feed. Deep Face combines a signed reference image from Orb enrollment, a real-time face scan on the participant’s device, and the live video frame visible to others, with all three needing to cryptographically match before a Verified Human badge appears. Hosts can gate admission through a Deep Face waiting room or invoke mid-call checks for sensitive moments such as wire authorizations, addressing deepfake impersonation incidents of the scale seen in the Arup case in Hong Kong.
DocuSign is integrating World ID as an additional proof-of-human layer inside its agreement workflows, complementing rather than replacing document-and-selfie identity verification. The distinction matters as AI agents increasingly execute agreements on behalf of principals: proof-of-identity answers who a signer is, while proof-of-human answers whether a live person is behind the signing event. World cited a network scale of approximately 18 million verified humans across 160 countries. The 4.0 release shipped alongside integrations with Tinder, Okta, Vercel, Browserbase, and Exa, extending the company’s Agent Kit framework for linking iris-verified identity to AI agents and aligning with broader mobile proof-of-human adoption on consumer platforms.
Sources: World, TechCrunch
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By the Mobile ID World Editorial Team
