World expands in Southeast Asia as global proof of personhood push continues

World is continuing the rapid global expansion it promised during last year’s livestreamed rebrand event, with deployments in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. Meanwhile, a hearing on the firm’s activity in Kenya has been postponed after a government agency said it had not been served with the required court documents.

In SE Asia, World targets nations with young, tech savvy populations

On the heels of its relative success in Malaysia, World is sending an influx of iris-scanning Orbs to Southeast Asia, launching its biometric enrolment campaign for World ID access in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

A blog from the firm says Orb verifications are available “in select cities in the province of Bulacan, just outside Manila, as it prepares for nationwide availability.” World has run private pilots in the lead-up to a planned nationwide public expansion.

World notes that the Philippines is ranked number one in social media users globally, and that Filipinos are also among the most prolific early adopters of AI technologies. “This mix of a strong social media presence and rapid AI adoption,” World says, “has highlighted the need for new tools to help protect Filipinos online.” It cites statistics showing that, between 2022 and 2023, deepfake-related identity fraud cases surged 4,500 percent in the Philippines.

In Indonesia, World will launch in the capital city of Jakarta. In a near-identical blog post, the firm notes that Indonesia has a young population with a strong online presence and enthusiasm for algorithmic tech. And “the amount of AI-based financial fraud cases in the country has ballooned by 1,550 percent since 2022,” it says.

Thailand likewise is getting Orbs. The Nation Thailand reports that Bangkok residents can try a preview of World’s proof of personhood (PoP) service at CentralWorld from February 17th to March 2nd, 2025. The piece notes that in Thailand, “cybercrime has surged at an alarming rate with over 30,000 cybercrimes taking place the first month of 2025, resulting in financial losses exceeding 2.4 billion Baht.”

Thus a pattern emerges: World enters a market observed to be hobbled by deepfake identity fraud, and offers the option for people to register on its World ID network, which will prove they are human in online transactions. Those who visit an Orb to have their iris biometrics scanned receive an allotment of 55 Worldcoin (WLD), the network’s native cryptocurrency.

Regulatory hammer liable to fall in at least one new locale

Those with a keen interest in unconventional gambling might consider starting a pool to bet on which of the three countries named above will be the first to investigate World for privacy violations.

For here we have another pattern: in a growing number of cases, World’s practices raise alarm bells with privacy regulators, who have variously issued fines, suspensions and other admonitions against the firm, for allegedly collecting the biometrics of minors and not obtaining informed consent from users signing up to get their crypto allotment.

Following a ban from the Brazilian government on exchanging iris biometrics for cryptocurrency, Sam Altman – the co-founder of World who moonlights as the shepherd of disruptive AI agents through OpenAI – argued that “there is absolutely no exchange of money or tokens when a person verifies their World ID.”

Kenya was among the first nations in which World set up shop, and also the first to pull the regulatory ripcord. In 2023, lawmakers there accused what was then called Worldcoin of being a threat to Kenya’s statehood. They later backtracked and dropped an investigation, but other observers in the country remain concerned.

A post from the International Commission of Jurists’ (ICJ) Kenya section says the highlighting of submissions in its case against World, initially set for February 4, 2025, has been postponed following a request from the Office of the Cabinet Secretary for ICT and Digital Innovation, which said it had not been served with the required court documents.

The hearing has been rescheduled to March 5, 2025.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  Indonesia  |  iris biometrics  |  Philippines  |  Southeast Asia  |  Thailand  |  World  |  World ID  |  World ID Orb