From 001ce7a27a9e6ddf5b76bef5de5832ca398680c4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Mateo Sauton Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:16:26 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] outline to use world id simple examples on how and why to use world id --- world-id/yc.mdx | 46 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 46 insertions(+) create mode 100644 world-id/yc.mdx diff --git a/world-id/yc.mdx b/world-id/yc.mdx new file mode 100644 index 0000000..66b32df --- /dev/null +++ b/world-id/yc.mdx @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ +--- +title: "World ID for YC Startups" +hidden: true +hideFooterPagination: true +--- + +The World stack is a privacy-preserving trust layer for companies that need to know whether a real, unique, present, or eligible person is behind an action. + +## Start with the trust question you need to answer + +| Question | Use | What it helps you do | +| --- | --- | --- | +| Who can participate? | **World ID** | Prove a user is a real, unique human. | +| Who is present right now? | **Selfie Check** | Confirm that a human is approving an important action. | +| Who meets the requirements? | **Identity Check (Preview)** | Verify supported document-checked attributes without collecting the underlying document. | +| When can an agent act? | **AgentKit** | Let an AI agent act after the required human trust checks are satisfied. | + +## Why companies use World ID + +1. **Stop bots and duplicate accounts.** Make rewards, referrals, voting, reviews, promotions, and social participation one-person-one-action. +2. **Protect sensitive moments.** Add human presence when someone approves a payment, recovers an account, deploys software, or authorizes a high-risk transaction. +3. **Check eligibility privately.** Confirm that someone meets a policy without asking your product to store their full identity documents. +4. **Match trust to risk.** Start with a lightweight check, then require stronger proof of humanity, presence, or eligibility where the stakes are higher. +5. **Build safer AI products.** Distinguish people from agents and make human approval an explicit boundary for consequential actions. +6. **Make communities more accountable.** Reduce impersonation, fake accounts, reputation manipulation, and fraudulent content while preserving privacy. + +## Where it fits in YC startups + +| If you're building... | The simplest place to use World ID | +| --- | --- | +| Proving you're human | Require one human per account to reduce Sybil attacks. | +| An AI consumer product | Protect a free trial, referral, reward, or limited promotion from duplicate claims. | +| Multiplayer AI | Distinguish verified people from AI agents in a shared environment. | +| An operating system for the physical world | Make sure tasks are assigned to real, unique workers. | +| A real-world data product | Limit data contribution and rewards to one unique contributor. | +| AI-native compliance | Add a privacy-preserving proof that a user is a real human before a regulated or high-risk action. | +| Crypto or stablecoins | Run fair allocations, grants, governance, airdrops, or incentives. | +| Cloud tools for small software | Reduce fake workspaces, spam, and abuse before privileged access. | +| Education | Protect scholarships, subsidized access, rewards, and student benefits. | +| Products for the aging population | Reduce impersonation of patients, family members, and caregivers. | +| Self-maintaining APIs | Add human accountability before critical code changes, merges, or deployments. | +| Defense or physical infrastructure | Add a human trust signal to safety-critical operations. | + +## Ready to build? + +[Start integrating World ID](/world-id/idkit/integrate) to bring the right trust signal into your product.