Indonesia Moves Toward Mandatory Facial Biometrics for SIM Registration

Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) is moving ahead with plans to require facial biometric verification for mobile SIM registration, tightening the link between mobile numbers and the country’s population database. A new draft ministerial regulation on mobile customer registration would make face recognition part of the core Know Your Customer process for telecom subscribers, extending existing rules that already require users to register with their national ID (NIK).

Under the draft framework, Indonesian citizens who want to activate a new number would need to provide three elements: their mobile number (MSISDN), their NIK, and biometric population data in the form of a facial image captured and verified through face recognition. Komdigi has described the measure as a way to strengthen the validity of subscriber data, arguing that current practices leave too much room for misuse of mobile numbers in scams, spam campaigns, and other abuses.

Officials have suggested that the new requirement will be phased in, with a period in which operators adapt their systems and processes before facial registration becomes mandatory for all new SIM activations. The target is to reach full implementation in 2026. Existing subscribers who registered under the current rules are not expected to be forced to re-enroll at the outset, but operators may be encouraged to offer biometric verification to them on an opt-in basis.

Komdigi representatives have framed the use of face recognition as a way to ensure that the person registering a number is truly the holder of the corresponding identity credentials, addressing long-standing concerns about people lending or selling their IDs to others for SIM activation. At the same time, the move is likely to sharpen ongoing debates in Indonesia around digital rights, surveillance, and data protection, particularly as the country works to implement its Personal Data Protection Law in parallel with broader efforts to modernize its digital infrastructure.

Sources: DetikInet, Tirto.id, Kumparan, Pikiran Rakyat

—

By Ji-seo Kim