Thailand Orders Sam Altman’s World to Destroy 1.2 Million Iris Scans

The announcement came after a high-level meeting led by Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaichanok Chidchob. Senior officials from the Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) and the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) joined the briefing, where authorities outlined why World’s practices were deemed unlawful.

According to the statement, the system of scanning users’ irises in exchange for WLD tokens breached PDPA rules governing the collection, storage, and disclosure of sensitive biometric information. The enforcement move marks the sharpest action Thailand has taken against the project to date, following a raid in October on a World-linked iris scanning center in Bangkok.

That operation, conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, resulted in arrests tied to an unlicensed digital asset exchange said to be handling WLD token transactions.  Investigators found that operators were offering exchange services without approval under Thailand’s Digital Asset Business Emergency Decree, thereby exposing users to risks of fraud and money laundering.

Authorities stated that the incident reflected broader concerns about unregulated cryptocy activity tied to the world’s rapidly expanding identity network. In response to the latest order, World Thailand said it had paused all verifications and removed the country from its list of active Orb locations.

The company described the directive as unexpected and insisted it had complied with local regulations throughout its rollout. It warned that millions of Thai users who joined the program for protection against scams, identity theft, and AI-driven fraud would be affected. The company said it intends to continue engaging with MDES and the PDPC to find a resolution. Thailand’s enforcement adds the country to a growing list of nations that have halted or restricted the project.