TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Digital has decided to temporarily freeze the Electronic System Provider Registration Certificate (TDPSE) owned by Worldcoin and WorldID services on Sunday, May 4, 2025, following the uproar over retina scan.
Director General of Digital Space Supervision, Alexander Sabar, stated that the decision was made based on public reports regarding the activities of these two services.
The activity of retina scan with the promise of hundreds of thousands of money has many impacts and risks.
Citing Trustcloud.tech, biometric data is unique and cannot be changed, making it an ideal target for cybercriminals. If this data falls into the wrong hands, it can be used to impersonate someone and commit various crimes.
For example, using this data, criminals can steal the victim's financial identity, access bank accounts, credit cards, or even apply for a loan in the victim's name.
Furthermore, biometric data can also be abused in election fraud, casting fraudulent votes, or engaging in activities that require identity verification.
Not only that, the theft of biometric data, such as fingerprints or facial maps, can open up opportunities for physical crimes, such as access to restricted areas or assisting criminals in disguising themselves as victims to commit criminal acts.
Case of Clearview Collecting Faces from Social Media Without Permission
Like Worldcoin, a previous case highlighted the issue of biometrics and the practice of collecting and selling personal data obtained from the internet in 2020, sparking ethical and legal debates.
Clearview AI, a company based in New York, was found to secretly collect billions of face images from social media and other websites without the consent or knowledge of the owners.
This data collection was then offered to various parties, including private companies, law enforcement agencies, and government institutions, for use in individual tracking through facial recognition technology.
This technology raises serious concerns regarding privacy and data protection, especially for vulnerable groups such as victims of domestic violence and sexual violence, undocumented immigrants, and communities of color, as the technology often shows dangerous bias that needs to be handled responsibly.
Not only that, Clearview also sells access to applications that allow users to upload photos to get instant matching results, further exacerbating the issue of uncontrolled biometric data trading.
Response of UI Cyber Law Expert
Cyber law expert from the University of Indonesia (UI), Edmon Makarim, also responded to the controversy involving the World App. He stated that the collected retina data has the potential to be misused.
"It is better to follow the steps of several other countries that have banned it, it will certainly be safer," Edmon said via a message to Tempo on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
He emphasized that biometric data is personal property that needs to be protected, and if there is no clear need, it should not be requested.
Edmon also added that the process of collecting, storing, and utilizing biometric data should be done with strict security systems, even higher than the protection of personal data in general.
He referred to Law Number 27 of 2022 concerning Personal Data Protection (PDP Law), where Article 4 verse (2) stipulates that biometric data is included in the category of specific personal data and requires extra protection.
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