World announces expansion in Thailand as Indonesia blocks its services

World has announced it will expand its services in Thailand thanks to strategic partnerships with a total of 11 local companies, including state-owned telecommunications firm National Telecom. At the same time, the company in charge of the project, Tools of Humanity, is facing resistance from regulators in Indonesia, who have blocked the digital identity firm from offering services.

On Monday, Tools of Humanity (TFH) announced that Thailand has reached the top 10 countries in terms of user growth. The company plans to continue this trend with the help of partners such as online retailers COM7 (BaNaNa), commercial complex Impact, social website Pantip, caller ID app Whoscall, event ticket platform Eventpop and gaming company Zentry.

Thailand has also become the first country to collaborate with digital asset exchanges, including Bitazza Thailand, Bitkub and Binance TH, according to The Bangkok Post.

The company has previously signed a deal with JIB Computer Group, one of Thailand’s biggest computer and IT retail chains.

World introduced its iris-scanning devices, known as Orbs, to Thailand in March this year. During the first phase, more than 100,000 users submitted their biometric data at 58 locations. The company plans to have 2 million users and 1,000 Orb locations across the country by the end of the year.

“In the long run of around five years, we may consider collecting a small transaction fee for the service,” says Tools For Humanity Country Manager Pakapol Thangtongchin.

Tools of Humanity also said that the World ID proof-of-personhood (PoP) service does not violate the country’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). However, Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) member Paiboon Amonpinyokeat has pointed out that compliance depends on whether the Orb system anonymizes the biometric data it collects and ensures that individual users are not identifiable.

Indonesia orders TFH to delete data

The risk of misuse of biometric data has also become a stumbling block for Tools of Humanity in Indonesia, where the Ministry of Communication and Digital temporarily suspended the World ID platform on Wednesday. The block also affects the firm’s local partner PT Sandina Abadi Nusantara (PT SAN).

The suspension is a preventative measure following a technical examination of the documents, systems and mechanisms used by TFH, which shows that the company violated personal data protection provisions and administrative obligations, the Ministry says. The government also highlighted ethical aspects of data collection, including among vulnerable groups, local news outlet Kompas reports.

“These vulnerable groups include children and adolescents, the elderly, people with disabilities, people with low levels of digital literacy, and those in remote areas or with limited access to information,” says the Ministry’s Director General of Digital Space Supervision, Alexander Sabar.

The Ministry has outlined requirements for Tools of Humanity to continue operations, including ceasing iris scanning and data processing, including previously collected hashed data. The company must delete all encrypted data and iris codes from Indonesian citizens and introduce rules to prevent processing children’s data in the future. Finally, the platform must fully comply with national regulations.

TFH launches first ad campaign in US

The successes and challenges in South Asia are not hindering Tools for Humanity’s efforts to attract additional users in the United States.

After its official launch in the U.S. market in May, World published its first-ever ad campaign, attempting to explain the value of proving their humanity online. Created with ad agency BBDO New York, the “Human and You Know It” ad showcases its iris-scanning device Orb.

As part of its U.S. debut, World announced it will bring the Orb to six cities, including Austin, Nashville, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Atlanta, located at both standalone outlets and inside Razer retail stores. The company plans to deploy another 7,500 Orbs by the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, World has announced that it has expanded its partnership with stablecoin issuer Circle, bringing the USDC and CCTP V2 (Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol) on its blockchain, known as World Chain.

The arrangement allows over 27 million World Chain users to use a regulated digital dollar for blockchain transfers, while developers can directly integrate USDC into the World App Mini App, the company says in a blog post.

“The integration combines the biggest use case in crypto-stablecoins together with the most distributed network of humans: World,” says the announcement. “Almost two million humans on World already held bridged USDC in their World App wallets. It’s now upgraded to native USDC issued directly by Circle.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  data collection  |  digital ID  |  Indonesia  |  iris biometrics  |  proof of personhood  |  Thailand  |  Tools for Humanity  |  World  |  World ID  |  World ID Orb