Thailand’s Economic and Social Development Board has issued a mandate for the digital identity project World, backed by Sam Altman, to cease operations and delete all user data. This follows the company’s operation being flagged as violating Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act due to its collection of iris scans, totaling 1.2 million users. The suspension comes after authorities raided World’s location in October for potential digital asset law violations. While World has paused operations and removed Thailand from its list of available countries, the company insists on maintaining compliance with local regulations while highlighting concerns over user impact. The incident follows Worldcoin’s continued regulatory challenges across different countries. Other regulatory concerns include suspicions around suspicious activity by World’s operators in Indonesia, Germany, Kenya, and Brazil, which prompted temporary suspension of services. World has maintained its stance on protecting user data, claiming to not use centralized biometric infrastructure or store iris scans on the Orb device used for verification. The company’s native token WLD has experienced a significant decline in value since launch, reflecting investor concerns and regulatory scrutiny.