Thailand asks Sam Altman’s World to delete 1.2M iris scans over data risks

Authorities in Thailand have officially requested World, a Sam Altman-backed digital identity project, to suspend operations and delete all user identification data.

Thailand’s Economic and Social Development Board, the country’s strategic planning agency, has ordered World to delete iris scans of 1.2 million local users, to a statement by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) on Monday.

The order detailed that World’s iris scanning in exchange for its Worldcoin () token violated Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act, which governs the collection, use and disclosure of personal data.

The suspension came weeks after in October amid allegations of potential digital asset law violations.

World Thailand, which is represented by TIDC Worldverse per local reports, has paused local verifications, according to a statement on X shared on Sunday. World has also Thailand from the list of available countries with Orb locations.

“This order comes despite our compliance with local laws and regulations and having presented information to regulators openly and transparently,” the company said.

World Thailand emphasized that the halt negatively impacts millions of Thai users who have adopted its digital identity tech to help them protect from scams, identity theft and AI-driven fraud.

“We remain committed to building a safer digital reality today and in the future for Thais and continue to engage constructively with relevant Thai authorities, including MDES and PDPC [Personal Data Protection Commission], on a path forward,” it added.

Cointelegraph approached World’s developer, Tools of Humanity, for comment regarding the raid, but had not received a response by publication.

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Since , in July 2023, World has faced multiple regulatory challenges worldwide.

In May, Indonesia’s Digital Ministry said it was over alleged suspicious activity and registration violations. World subsequently paused verification services while clarifying license requirements.

Other countries such as Germany, Kenya and Brazil have also raised concerns about , though the company continues to insist user data is protected against breaches.

“World does not use centralized biometric infrastructure,” in May, emphasizing that iris scans are never stored on the Orb — the device that captures and processes photos to generate the unique iris code, which is said to be anonymized.

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WLD, World’s native token, which is distributed to eligible World ID users in exchange for verification through iris scanning, has tumbled around 6% over the past seven days, and traded at $0.626 at the time of writing.

The token is down more than 70% over the past year, to CoinGecko data.

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