Authorities in Thailand have officially requested World, a digital identity project backed by Sam Altman, to suspend its 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, according 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 (WLD) token violated Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act, which governs the collection, use and disclosure of personal data.
The suspension came weeks after Thai authorities raided one of World’s iris scanning locations in October amid allegations of potential digital asset law violations.
World Halts Thai Operations Amidst Regulatory Scrutiny
World Thailand, represented by TIDC Worldverse according to local reports, has paused local verifications, as announced in a statement on X shared on Sunday. World has also removed Thailand from the list of countries where Orb locations are available.
The company stated, “This order comes despite our compliance with local laws and regulations and having presented information to regulators openly and transparently.”
World Thailand emphasized that this halt negatively impacts millions of Thai users who have adopted its digital identity technology to help protect them from scams, identity theft, and AI-driven fraud.
The company added, “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.”
Cointelegraph approached World’s developer, Tools of Humanity, for comment regarding the raid, but had not received a response by publication.
Since launching under its former name, Worldcoin, in July 2023, World has faced multiple regulatory challenges worldwide.
In May, Indonesia’s Digital Ministry announced it was probing World’s local operators over alleged suspicious activity and registration violations. World subsequently paused verification services while clarifying license requirements.
Other countries, including Germany, Kenya, and Brazil, have also raised concerns about potential risks to World users’ biometric data. However, the company continues to insist that user data is protected against breaches.
World told Cointelegraph in May, “World does not use centralized biometric infrastructure,” 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.
Worldcoin Token Performance
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. At the time of writing, it traded at $0.626.
According to CoinGecko data, the token is down more than 70% over the past year.