Worldcoin Eye-Scanning Phenomenon Raises Concerns About Privacy and Biometric Data Management

JAKARTA - Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) Meutya Hafid announced that he had frozen the cryptocurrency management application or the World App.

JAKARTA - Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) Meutya Hafid announced that he had frozen the cryptocurrency management application or the World App.

The public is asked to be more tech literate in order to be able to verify whether a service has the potential to be detrimental or not.

"We appeal to the public to report any suspected illegal digital services and to remain vigilant, especially towards services that offer excessive advantages or collect personal data in an unserious manner," said Komdigi in a statement on Thursday (5/5).

In the last few days, the Indonesian people have been shocked by the news about the practice of scanning the retina. They received cash rewards ranging from IDR 250,000 to IDR 800.000.

This eye phenomenon is part of the Worldcoin project, run by Tools for Humanity (TFH) which was also founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and based in San Francisco, United States.

Worldcoin offers World ID as a digital identity, which is obtained by scanning eye slices through Orb'. This identity is used to verify a person as a real person, not a bot or AI.

A shophouse in the Grand Boulevard area, Pusaka Rakyat Village, Tarumajaya District, Bekasi Regency is crowded with people. Most of them deliberately came to scan their eyes for money.

Apart from Bekasi, a shophouse in Depok is also a place to scan people's retinal eyes. According to the public's confession, they use eye skinretina money to meet their daily needs.

However, the phenomenon of scanning eye slices exchanged for digital coins or cryptocurrencies raises concerns, especially regarding privacy and management of biometric data, as stated by cybersecurity expert and Chairman of the Cyber Security Research Institute (CISSReC), Pratama Persadha.

He said that until now the designation of biometric data is still unclear. "If it's scam (fraud) or not, we know Sam Altman and some of his co-founders are trusted people. So I don't think it's possible to scam," said Pratama.

"But if we use our data for other things, we don't know yet, what will the iris data be used for later," he added.

Pratama added, in the future TFH must clarify the usefulness of this biometric data to the public. They must also be open whether they have verified, namely ensuring whether the tools used are reliable and have the potential to steal biometric data or not.

"They will use (for) what our data is, it is not clear, that must be clarified. There is no 'free lunch' on the internet. No one gives free money without expecting anything from us," explained Pratama.

In addition, the government must also ensure whether the system carried out by TFH in scanning and storing community data is correct or not. Pratama is worried that community data will be used for things that are not right.

"The government must intervene to ensure that the system used by Worldcoin is clear and can be accounted for. Because if the heating is not good and the scanning process is not carried out properly, the iris data obtained may be less than optimal and can be used by parties other than Worldcoin," he explained.

Cyber law expert at the University of Indonesia, Edmon Makarim, also responded to the World App polemic. He agrees with the assumption that the incoming retinal data has the potential to be misused.

"I think the government's action to freeze the operating permit for the cryptocurrency management application, namely World App, and the service for collecting biometric data, namely World ID, from the service provider, Tools for Humanity, is a step that needs to be appreciated," said Edmon.

According to Edmon, the two services are related and both have the potential to be detrimental to the community.

"The service for collecting biometric data, namely World ID, has been banned in several countries such as Spain, Hong Kong, and South Korea due to concerns over the management of the biometric data collected," he explained.

The European Union is also investigating and stopping eye retinal scanning activity.

"The service is said to be operating in several countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, but it is not yet clear whether the service provider has obtained the necessary operating permits in each country."

said Edmon.

The Indonesian government has taken a firm stance and step regarding retinal scanning activities by World Coin and World ID services. Through the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, the government temporarily recorded operational permits for the two services on May 4, 2025.

The Ministry of Communication and Trade has also appealed to the public to remain vigilant and report any illegal digital services.

"We are freezing the operational permits for the cryptocurrency management application, namely World App, and the service for collecting biometric data, namely World ID, from the service provider, Tools for Humanity, which is also the developer of OpenAI