"There is no 'trust infrastructure'"… Humanity issues manifesto

"The internet wasn’t built to protect the truth—it was built to transmit information quickly."

Humanity, a decentralized identity-verification project, defined the internet this way in a manifesto released on the 19th (local time). Humanity’s assessment is that the internet is optimized for "information sharing," allowing misinformation to spread rapidly and increasing cases where users’ identities are exploited.

It argues that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are amplifying the internet’s structural flaws. "The internet was not designed to verify the truth, and in the AI era these shortcomings have become structural problems," Humanity said, adding that "without a verifiable trust model, know-your-customer (KYC) systems will collapse and social platforms will be overrun by AI bots."

Humanity stressed that these developments are an "inevitable outcome." In the manifesto, it said this is "because the infrastructure (for trust) has been absent," adding that "in the real world, trust is not renegotiated from scratch every time—and the internet should be no different."

"Identity verification will become a new standard"

On the day, Humanity shifted its strategic focus from its existing "Proof of Humanity" model to a "Proof of Trust" model. Proof of Trust is a framework designed to let institutions verify and attest to user information without collecting or storing personal data. Humanity explained that "Proof of Trust is an extension of the existing Proof of Humanity," adding that "with Proof of Trust, a verification result confirmed once can be reused across multiple services without exposing the underlying data."

Humanity believes Proof of Trust can establish itself as a new technical standard for proving identity on the internet in the AI era. "Through Proof of Trust, next-generation platforms and applications (apps) will be able to verify information faster and at lower cost than today’s big tech companies," it said, adding that "(Proof of Trust) will present a new global standard for user experience (UX) in the identity-verification field."

If Proof of Trust spreads, excessive centralization of data is also expected to ease to some extent. That is because Humanity’s Proof of Trust provides trust-verification services without separately storing data. Existing trust-verification methods are concentrated in a small number of large platforms that store identity data, making identity verification that guarantees users’ privacy effectively difficult, Humanity said.

Emphasizing 'data decentralization'

Humanity’s view is that the value of Proof of Trust grows through "data decentralization." A Humanity official said, "Current identity-verification systems are fragmented across KYC providers, credential repositories, compliance firms, account databases (DBs), and more," adding that "(by contrast) Proof of Trust integrates data verification rather than data itself, allowing companies to reduce the burden of costly data management."

Decentralizing identity-verification systems is a mid- to long-term goal. Humanity started from the belief that even as Web3 technologies spread, centralization of not only data but also trust is intensifying. This context also underlies why Humanity defines itself as the "Trust Layer of the Internet." The company said, "Humanity is a kind of 'digital ID' that proves who you are without disclosing personal information," adding that "through this, we will solve the internet’s structural problems, which was not designed for trust verification."

Terence Kwok, Humanity’s founder, said, "AI is transforming the internet from a human-centric network into a network where humans and agents coexist," adding that "the ability to verify who is a real person and which claims are trustworthy will become core infrastructure on par with payments, cloud, and cybersecurity." He added, "As AI-driven fake identities spread, demand for systems that prove trust while protecting personal information will expand across billions of users and trillions of US dollars in economic activity."

Pursuing in-house investment as well

Humanity expects the decentralized identity-verification market to grow explosively. While AI is undermining existing identity-verification systems, it believes trust is required for all digital transactions. The company also said the inefficiency of existing systems designed to prevent identity-related fraud and ensure regulatory compliance generates cost burdens of hundreds of billions of US dollars each year.

Potential applications are wide-ranging. Key examples include existing KYC systems and identity-based payment services in the financial sector. The company said the functionality can also be used for social platforms that require verification of real users, and for authentication systems seeking to add fraud-prevention features.

It can also be applied to ticketing. Humanity’s Proof of Trust model can prevent ticketing using automated programs. This is also why Humanity recently acquired the on-chain ticketing and credential platform "Moongate."

It also launched its own fund, "Humanity Investments," to invest in companies that adopt Proof of Trust. Humanity said it is investing because "the more companies adopt the Proof of Trust model, the greater its value as a standard," adding that it "decided to invest to accelerate (Proof of Trust’s) adoption, standardization, and network effects."

Meanwhile, Humanity also released an application programming interface (API) for developers of existing applications (apps). The API is designed so that even without specialized knowledge of blockchain, developers can integrate Humanity Protocol’s trust-verification functions into authentication procedures, access control, and credential workflows.