Proof of personhood · Proof of personhood
BrightID vs Proof of Humanity
BrightID (social graph verification parties) and Proof of Humanity (video registry with crypto-economic challenges) both aim at sybil resistance, but they disagree on 3 of 12 measurable attributes. This page compares them field by field from published protocol behaviour — no marketing scores, no invented metrics.
BrightID
BrightID derives uniqueness from a human-verified social graph. Privacy posture is strong; onboarding depends on scheduled live sessions with other people.
Openness 9/10
Proof of Humanity
Proof of Humanity trades privacy for adversarial auditability: registrations are public videos anyone can challenge with a deposit. Sybil resistance is enforced economically.
Openness 9/10
Attribute comparison
| Attribute | BrightID | Proof of Humanity |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Proof of personhood | Proof of personhood |
| Network | Chain-agnostic (bridged attestations) | Ethereum / Gnosis |
| How a person is proven | Video verification parties building a social graph analysed for uniqueness | Public video submission, vouching, and dispute resolution via Kleros arbitration |
| Biometric data | None collected | None collected |
| KYC requirement | No KYC | No KYC |
| Hardware needed | Any phone or laptop | Any phone or laptop |
| Key custody | User holds the keys | User holds the keys |
| Reputation model | Binary human / not human | Binary human / not human |
| Native token | None | None |
| Public read API | Yes | Yes |
| Open source core | Yes | Yes |
| Who can revoke you | Graph analysis can drop a node below the verification threshold | Anyone can challenge a registration; arbitration decides removal |
3 of 12 attributes differ; 9 are identical.
Openness criteria, scored openly
The matrix scores what a protocol asks of a user and how much of the result stays verifiable in public. It is not a quality, security or market ranking, and it is not derived from TrustLayer trust scores.
| Criterion | BrightID | Proof of Humanity |
|---|---|---|
| No biometric collectionmax 2 | 2/2 — None collected | 2/2 — None collected |
| No KYC requirementmax 2 | 2/2 — No KYC | 2/2 — No KYC |
| No specialised hardwaremax 1 | 1/1 — Any phone or laptop | 1/1 — Any phone or laptop |
| User-held keysmax 2 | 2/2 — User holds the keys | 2/2 — User holds the keys |
| Continuous reputationmax 1 | 0/1 — Binary human / not human | 0/1 — Binary human / not human |
| Public read APImax 1 | 1/1 — Documented public endpoints | 1/1 — Documented public endpoints |
| Open source coremax 1 | 1/1 — Core implementation is public | 1/1 — Core implementation is public |
| Total | 9/10 | 9/10 |
Best fit for BrightID
- Communities able to run recurring live verification sessions
- Projects avoiding biometrics and KYC entirely
Best fit for Proof of Humanity
- Governance systems that want an adversarial, publicly auditable registry
- Communities comfortable with public video identity
Verdict
On the openness criteria below, BrightID scores 9/10 and Proof of Humanity scores 9/10 — 3 of 12 attributes differ. BrightID asks less of the user up front; Proof of Humanity offers a stronger external anchor where its trust assumptions are acceptable. Pick by what you must not collect, and by whether you need a one-off human check or a score that keeps moving.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between BrightID and Proof of Humanity?▼
Network: BrightID — Chain-agnostic (bridged attestations); Proof of Humanity — Ethereum / Gnosis.
Does BrightID or Proof of Humanity require biometrics or KYC?▼
BrightID: none collected, no kyc. Proof of Humanity: none collected, no kyc.
Which one can a developer query from an API?▼
BrightID and Proof of Humanity
Can BrightID and Proof of Humanity be used together?▼
Yes. They produce independent signals, so apps commonly combine a personhood check with a continuous reputation score before granting access or rewards.
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