Thailand has ordered Sam Altman’s World project to suspend operations and permanently delete iris scans collected from 1.2 million people, escalating a growing confrontation between regulators and one of the world’s most controversial digital identity systems.
The decision, announced on Monday by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES), follows a formal directive from the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), which determined that the project’s iris-for-token model violated the country’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).
Source: MDESThailand Tightens Grip on Worldcoin, Citing Illegal Biometric Data Practices
The announcement came after a high-level meeting led by Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaichanok Chidchob.
Senior officials from the Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) and the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) joined the briefing, where authorities outlined why World’s practices were deemed unlawful.
According to the statement, the system of scanning users’ irises in exchange for WLD tokens breached PDPA rules governing the collection, storage, and disclosure of sensitive biometric information.
The enforcement move marks the sharpest action Thailand has taken against the project to date, following a raid in October on a World-linked iris scanning center in Bangkok.
That operation, conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, resulted in arrests tied to an unlicensed digital asset exchange said to be handling WLD token transactions.
Investigators found that operators were offering exchange services without approval under Thailand’s Digital Asset Business Emergency Decree, thereby exposing users to risks of fraud and money laundering.
Authorities stated that the incident reflected broader concerns about unregulated cryptocurrency activity tied to the world’s rapidly expanding identity network.
In response to the latest order, World Thailand said it had paused all verifications and removed the country from its list of active Orb locations.
The company described the directive as unexpected and insisted it had complied with local regulations throughout its rollout. It warned that millions of Thai users who joined the program for protection against scams, identity theft, and AI-driven fraud would be affected.
The company said it intends to continue engaging with MDES and the PDPC to find a resolution.
Regulators Across Continents Target Worldcoin’s Oversensitive Iris Data Handling
Thailand’s enforcement adds the country to a growing list of nations that have halted or restricted the project.
Since launching in 2023 under its previous name, Worldcoin, the initiative has faced scrutiny in Kenya, Spain, Portugal, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Brazil, and Colombia, each citing concerns about the handling of biometric data.
In several cases, regulators objected to the project’s model of offering financial incentives to users, arguing that such rewards undermine genuine consent for handing over permanent identifiers.
Courts and data agencies in multiple jurisdictions have ordered temporary suspensions, data deletions, or full operational bans as investigations continue.
Authorities around the world have pointed out similar issues. They point to the sensitivity of iris data, which cannot be changed if compromised, and carries long-term privacy implications.
In Europe, regulators determined that even the anonymized iris codes qualify as personal data under GDPR, requiring stricter compliance than the project initially demonstrated.
As enforcement actions mounted, World’s developers introduced new privacy tools intended to ease global concerns.
The company has begun migrating to a Secure Multi-Party Computation system that divides and encrypts biometric information across multiple locations.
It has also released a redesigned Orb device with enhanced transparency features and launched a non-biometric verification method using passports and NFC technology.
Developers say older iris codes are being deleted as part of an ongoing privacy upgrade and stress that no raw biometric data is stored on the Orb itself.
Despite the regulatory pressure, the project’s global footprint continues to grow. The project recently launched its World ID service in the United States and the Philippines. Additionally, the World App has more than 37 million users, and the company reports more than 100 million verifications completed across 160 countries.
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