Indonesia seeks biometric liveness detection in push against ID fraud

Indonesia’s Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration (Ditjen Dukcapil) is shopping for a firm to provide a face biometric liveness detection system as the country looks to upgrade its national ID infrastructure and strengthen security around remote onboarding.

According to a tender announcement released recently, the passive liveness detection technology will be integrated with the Digital Population Identity (IKD) platform to ensure that citizens have secure and seamless access to digital services. The system should be able to prevent spoofing attacks through photos, masks or deepfakes.

Indonesia’s digital ID system, which has been vital so far in facilitating access to public and private sector services, faces several challenges, one of which has been its vulnerability to identity fraud.

Interested firms for the contract have up to March 10 to place bids, and the winner will have 12 months to execute the project, the announcement indicates.

Per the tender, the procurement is supported by funding from the World Bank under the ID for Inclusive Service Delivery and Digital Transformation in Indonesia Project, expected to run from 2023-2027.

The liveness detection system, according to Ditjen Dukcapil, will help ensure that citizens can easily register and authenticate digitally without physical presence, and in a manner that ensures compliance with existing security and privacy standards.

While liveness detection is broadly used in biometrics, its primary application is the protection of user onboarding and authentication transactions against spoof attempts through face biometrics. Government is a key sector leading the widespread adoption of face liveness detection.

The vendor to be selected is expected to provide 16,092,000 (sixteen million, ninety two thousand) liveness credits, with each credit equivalent to one successful passive liveness detection transaction. The credits should be perpetual, and to be consumed at any time over a period of time. The selected firm will also provide a software development kit (SDK) that can be integrated into the existing IKD mobile application, and be able to work at scale.

With the liveness detection system, Dukcapil hopes to, among many things, reduce the manual identity verification workload for its staff, streamline how citizens access services remotely, strengthen trust in the country’s digital identity system by preventing fraud, and support integration between the identity platform and other digital government services including fintechs.

Indonesia plans to boost its economic growth in the next few years and the government believes investing in digital infrastructure can help meet that objective. Trust is a vital factor in the growth of any digital economy.

This liveness detection technology tender is one of many digital-ID related ones which have been lined up in the next coming months as part of the country’s ongoing digital transformation drive. According to the government, the country’s DPI rollout is anchored on the national digital ID which has so far been issued to at least 17 million people.

Biometric Update and Goode Intelligence recently released a facial liveness detection market report and buyer’s guide that dives into the state-of-the-art in face liveness detection including interviews with accredited biometric testing laboratories, an examination of commercially available products and services, sector and application analysis, and short-terms forecasts.

Article Topics

biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  Dukcapil  |  Identitas Kependudukan Digital (IKD)  |  Indonesia  |  passive facial liveness  |  procurement  |  remote identity proofing  |  tender