How Do Palm Scans Work on the Humanity Protocol?

Biometric authentication isn’t just about convenience anymore — it’s quickly becoming a dealbreaker for consumers looking to perform their transactions and use their devices with as little friction as possible. According to a study conducted by credit score provider, Experian, 81% of those surveyed perceived biometrics as a more secure method of identity verification. Meanwhile, a study by Visa concluded that 53% of those surveyed would switch banks if their bank didn’t offer biometric authentication.

Humanity Protocol’s biometric authentication stands out by addressing both technological efficiency and user privacy. The cornerstone of their human recognition module is palm recognition technology, which strikes a delicate balance between accuracy, convenience, and privacy.

Key Advantages of the Humanity Protocol’s Palm Recognition Technology

The Humanity Protocol’s approach to palm recognition offers several critical advantages:

Accuracy

The palm’s large surface area and complex feature set provide more information than other biometric methods like fingerprints or iris scans. Palm vein recognition further increases accuracy by analyzing internal patterns that are nearly impossible to replicate.

Reliability

Palm features, especially vein patterns, are stable over a person’s lifetime, reducing the need for frequent updates or re-enrollment.

Security

Palm scans are not stored by Humanity Protocol or any centralized entity. They are distributed across multiple zkProofers that act as nodes that support the protocol.

Robustness to Spoofing

By capturing palm features in both visible and infrared light, the system makes spoofing nearly impossible. Additional measures, such as limiting the number of trials per device, further enhance security.

Inclusivity

Phase 1’s reliance on smartphone cameras ensures that almost anyone can participate, while Phase 2’s low-cost infrared device remains accessible. The contactless process is quick and straightforward, making it user-friendly and widely applicable.

The Two-Phase Approach to Palm Recognition

Humanity Protocol's palm recognition technology is being developed in two phases, each leveraging different aspects of biometric identification to maximize both accessibility and precision.

Phase 1: Palm Print Recognition

Phase 1 employs palm print recognition and can be done using users’ personal devices. This approach utilizes the mature technology of palm print analysis, which identifies unique features such as skin lines, loops, and creases. These features provide a high level of individual differentiation, essential for the 1-to-N matching problem where each individual must be uniquely identified among many.

Phase 2: Palm Vein Recognition

In Phase 2, the protocol introduces palm vein recognition, which uses a specialized device with an infrared camera connected to a smartphone. This phase enhances identity verification by analyzing the unique vein patterns within a user’s palm. Palm vein recognition, as demonstrated by a Fujitsu study, offers exceptional accuracy with a false acceptance rate of less than 0.00008% and a false rejection rate of 0.01%.

Advanced Image Processing and AI Integration

In both phases, the captured palm images undergo sophisticated processing and enhancement. Humanity Protocol's AI model, built on convolutional neural networks (CNN), extracts principal features from the palm prints and veins. This advanced processing ensures rapid (<0.1 seconds) and robust identity verification, even in varying lighting conditions and despite potential measurement errors.

When palm print and palm vein data are combined, the Proof of Humanity is sufficiently accurate to cover the entire human population, creating a unique biometric signature for each individual.

Unique Human Users and Verifiable Credentials

Humanity Protocol operates as a permissionless, EVM-compatible Layer-2 blockchain where any entity can create a wallet. With Proof of Humanity, verified human users can use their wallet addresses as digital identifiers (DID) and hold verifiable credentials (VC) that prove their uniqueness and other claims.

In Phase 1, users receive VCs that attest to their uniqueness as humans on the HP network.

In Phase 2, VCs will expand to include attributes like real-life identity, education, employment history, geographical location, and age.

This self-sovereign identity (SSI) model gives users full control over their VCs, allowing them to share information directly or indirectly through zero-knowledge proofs, thereby maintaining their privacy while interacting with third parties.

Robust protection that prioritizes convenience

The Humanity Protocol's innovative palm recognition technology offers a robust, privacy-respecting solution for digital identity verification. By progressing through two phases of palm print and palm vein recognition, the protocol ensures high accuracy, reliability, and inclusivity. 

This approach not only secures the network against non-human actors but also empowers users with verifiable credentials, paving the way for a more secure and user-controlled digital identity landscape.