TL;DR
- Thailand has ordered World to delete the biometric data of 1.2 million users for violating the Personal Data Protection Act and offering WLD tokens in exchange for iris scans.
- The Thai SEC and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau conducted a raid and arrested several employees.
- Eight countries, including Colombia, Spain, and Brazil, have restricted World Network.
Sam Altman suffered a setback in Thailand after the country’s data protection commission ordered World Network to halt the collection of biometric data and delete the information of 1.2 million users.
The commission’s decision is based on violations of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), as the company offered WLD tokens in exchange for iris scans, and authorities detected possible illegal transfers of this data to third parties.
World Network, developed by Tools for Humanity (TFH) and backed by Altman, uses its World ID service to generate digital credentials that verify an individual is human through Orb devices. In Thailand, the project operated 102 of these devices, making it one of its main markets in Asia. Users who completed the verification received 52 WLD tokens monthly, currently valued at approximately $0.63 each, generating income that could be lost following the deletion order.
The restriction followed a raid in October by the Thai SEC and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, during which several employees were arrested and World’s operation as a digital asset business without a license was challenged. Violations could carry up to five years in prison and fines of 500,000 baht, with additional daily fines of 10,000 baht if operations continued.
Eight Countries Ban World Operations
TFH and its Thai subsidiary, TIDC, suspended iris scans in compliance with the order, although they maintain they operated transparently and that the suspension affects millions of people who use the technology to protect against scams, identity theft, and AI-driven fraud. Opas Cherdpunt, CEO of M Vision Plc, is organizing a petition with 500 affected users to challenge the data deletion order at the Central Administrative Court.
Thailand joins the list of countries imposing restrictions on World Network. Eight countries have banned the platform, including Colombia, Spain, Brazil, Kenya, and Hong Kong, citing transparency issues, collection of data from minors, and lack of proper consent. The suspension and data deletion aim to prevent leaks and illegal use of sensitive information. Local experts note the case serves as a warning about the consequences of noncompliance with the PDPA, although penalties are milder than those under the EU’s GDPR.
There is strong regulatory scrutiny on digital identity and crypto projects that collect biometric data, highlighting the legal and financial risks for initiatives combining advanced technology with financial incentives
