Thailand Orders Sam Altman’s World to Erase 1.2 Million Iris Scans After Data Law Violations

- Thai authorities mandate the deletion of 1.2 million biometric records from the World digital identity project. - Operations are suspended over breaches of local data protection and digital asset regulations. Thai regulators have ordered the Sam Altman-backed digital identity project, World, to shut down its operations in the country and delete the iris scans of 1.2 million users. On November 26, 2025, Cointelegraph reported that the Economic and Social Development Board issued this directive following an October raid on one of World’s biometric scanning locations. The raid highlighted violations of Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act and related digital asset laws. In response, World, which operates locally as TIDC Worldverse, suspended user verification services in Thailand and removed the country from its list of available Orb scanning locations. While the company insisted its operations complied with local regulations, it also expressed concern over the disruption for Thai users who rely on the platform to combat fraud and identity theft. World pledged to work with Thai authorities to achieve a constructive resolution. This development marks the latest regulatory hurdle for the biometric-focused initiative, previously known as Worldcoin, as it has faced growing scrutiny regarding its data collection practices in other nations, including Germany, Kenya, and Brazil. As of November 26, 15:08 UTC, Worldcoin (WLD) is trading at $0.623, reflecting a 0.904% gain over the past 24 hours, with a 24-hour trading volume of $86,497,112.48.