On November 25, Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society ordered World, a digital identity initiative supported by Sam Altman, to delete more than 1.2 million iris scans collected from Thai citizens.
According to the ministry, the data collection did not comply with the country’s Personal Data Protection Act, as the biometric information was collected in exchange for Worldcoin
In October, an investigation involving Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau led to a raid on an iris-scanning center linked to World.
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The authorities targeted the company due to suspicions that it had violated digital asset business licensing rules by operating token exchange services without approval.
Several staff were detained after the enforcement action. Reports later surfaced of organized efforts by groups to collect iris scans from others in exchange for rewards.
The World project stopped verifying in Thailand and removed the country from its list of Orb locations on its website. The company maintains that it has always complied with Thai laws and that it has worked with regulators throughout its operations.
There are concerns from the firm that suspending services could prevent many people from using World’s technology to help guard against identity abuse, fraud, and scams involving artificial intelligence (AI).
At the same time, World stressed that it remains open to discussions with Thai authorities in hopes of finding a way to legally resume operations in the country.
On November 25, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin, instructed Ethena GmbH to halt selling its USDe token to local investors. Why? Read the full story.
