Privacy-focused browser startup Curious Browser has announced a strategic integration with identity-tech firm Privasea to introduce privacy-preserving proof-of-humanity features. The partnership is part of Curious’s larger push to reshape web and AI experiences around real people — not bots.
Under the agreement, Curious will leverage Privasea’s flagship product, ImHuman, to enable on-chain human verification without requiring users to share identity documents or hand over biometric data. Instead, users undergo encrypted biometric liveness checks in their device. Privasea’s system issues a unique on-chain NFT credential once the check is complete — and the key point: the biometric data never leaves the user’s control. As the announcement explained, neither Curious nor Privasea can view or store the raw data.
For Curious, the integration means a higher degree of trust within its platform: every user can now be verified as human, reducing the risk of bots, scripts or fake accounts distorting the ecosystem. It aligns with Curious’s positioning as “the world’s first humanistic, crypto-native AI browser and search engine” built for users who demand personal, secure and transparent web experiences.
On the other side, Privasea has established a strong backing in privacy-tech and confidential computing. The firm raised an initial seed round of around US$5 million from investors including Binance Labs, Gate Labs, MH Ventures and K300. More recently it closed a Series A raise of US$15 million at a valuation of approximately US$180 million, led by GSR, Amber, Echo and backed by Binance Labs, OKX Ventures and Nomura’s Laser Digital.
Privasea’s core technology uses Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) to enable computations (such as biometric verification) on encrypted data. According to the details shared in an interview with the founder, the ImHuman app was built as a privacy-first alternative to more invasive “proof of humanity” schemes — such as those requiring iris scans or identity uploads.
Why does it matter? In the broader digital ecosystem, verification of humans — and elimination of bots — is increasingly crucial. From ad networks to social platforms to Web3 communities, bad actors use fake accounts to manipulate engagement, scrub value and degrade user experience. For an AI-native browser like Curious, ensuring interactions stem from actual people boosts not just trust but business viability.
By integrating Privasea’s system, Curious can credibly offer advertisers, service providers and users that “yes, you’re dealing with a real human”. That opens monetisation paths that are more sustainable and less contingent on surveillance-based models.
Curious CEO David Tomasian said: “Bots have taken over much of the online world, and it is time we put people back at the center.” The Privasea tie-up is how he says that vision is realised.
From Privasea’s perspective, the browser integration represents a high-value use case for its encrypted verification protocol — one that scales to end-users and leverages Web3 credentials. CEO and co-founder David Jiao framed the technology as one where “verifying human presence online should not require giving up ownership of personal identity.”
It would be interesting to watch how Curious translate this technical feature into actual onboarding of verified human users. Will the on-chain NFT credentials be accepted by other Web3 platforms?
FHE and encrypted biometrics remain heavy compute and may face skeptical users. Verified real user data may command a premium, shifting browser revenue models away from tracking.
Ultimately, the collaboration marks a notable advance for human-centric Web3 infrastructure: combining browser, AI agent and privacy-by-design identity verification. If executed well, it could set a new standard for how humans interact with decentralised and AI-powered platforms.
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