Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Committee has ordered TIDC Worldverse to suspend its iris-scanning services and delete biometric data collected from 1.2 million users, citing non-compliance with Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act.
TIDC Worldverse is part of Sam Altman’s World ID project, which has faced scrutiny over potential links to cryptocurrency scams and unauthorised data use, including cases where people were allegedly hired to scan irises for others.
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The National Health Security Office in Thailand has ordered the suspension of iris biometric data collection by TIDC Worldverse and has demanded the deletion of biometric data already collected from approximately 1.2 million Thai citizens.
TIDC Worldverse is the Thai representative of Sam Altman’s Tools for Humanity, which operates the World ID project (formerly Worldcoin) in Thailand. The initiative uses iris-scanning “Orb” devices to provide a digital “proof-of-human” credential. Participants receive Worldcoin (“WLD”) tokens as an incentive for biometric verification.
Explaining in simple terms what the “Orb” is, Business Insider said, “The Orb is a polished, volleyball-sized metal sphere that scans irises to generate a ‘World ID’ – a kind of digital passport meant to distinguish humans from machines online.”
The decision to suspend the collection of biometric data in Thailand was made after the Personal Data Protection Committee determined that TIDC Worldverse did not obtain sufficient consent from people to collect their biometric data. This consent is a requirement under Thailand’s laws.
Tools for Humanity Thailand has announced that it has paused its iris biometric verification services in compliance with the order but the company plans to challenge the decision in court.
The investigation into TIDC Worldverse also revealed other suspicious activity, including a scheme to hire people to scan their irises in exchange for coins that could be used by other people, as stated by Pol Col Surapong Plengkham, the secretary-general of the Personal Data Protection Committee.
The suspension and deletion order is a significant setback for World ID’s global ambitions, which have primarily targeted poorer economies in the global south, where people are offered a “drop” of WLD in exchange for biometric enrolment. The company has only managed to register 17.5 million people so far, falling short of its target of verifying 1 billion users.
World ID has faced regulatory challenges in several countries, including Germany, where it was accused of violating the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). World ID “has seen more or less regulatory pushback wherever it has set up operations. (Except maybe Malaysia),” Biometric Update said.
It has also been met with scepticism by experts, such as Nikhil Bhatia, a finance professor at the University of Southern California, who views World ID as “experimental or a fad” due to its relatively small market capitalisation (“cap”) compared to other cryptocurrencies.
“It’s really just hard to judge something that’s a crypto with a 2-billion-dollar market cap as anything other than experimental or a fad. World [ID] is not a contender in any way for currency or an asset relative to the dollar or Bitcoin,” he said.
If you needed any proof that the collection of biometrics is about money, this is it.
The above is paraphrased from Biometric Update’s article ‘Thailand shuts down World iris scanning operation, orders deletion of biometrics’. You can read the full article HERE.
Featured image taken from ‘Worldcoin’s Orb Scans Your Iris—But at What Cost?’, Identity, 6 November 2025
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Categories: Breaking News, World News