Indonesia to require face biometrics for new mobile numbers

Indonesia will require face biometrics for new mobile number registrations starting in July as part of a broader push to combat digital fraud and strengthen national digital infrastructure.

The nationwide policy takes effect in July as Indonesia expands biometric identity checks to combat digital fraud and SIM-related crime. The government has been trialling the system for the past five months ahead of the nationwide rollout.  According to telecoms association ATSI, Indonesia registered 1.4 million new phone numbers using face biometrics between January and April of this year.

“The rule will apply for new registrations nationwide,” said Edwin Hidayat Abdullah, a senior official at the Communications Ministry. “We will not give any relaxation to the rules starting July 1.”

Users will have their face biometrics recorded by mobile operators at their retail outlets or via their respective mobile apps. The facial data will be encrypted before it is sent to Dukcapil.

Officials said telecom operators will not store biometric data, adding that only the civil registry office, Dukcapil, is authorized to retain such information.

The official agency will check if it matches their database and the mobile number will be activated once the agency has verified. Previously, ID and family card numbers were used for registration but the government says the new method is more effective.

The SIM registration rollout reflects Indonesia’s broader push to integrate digital identity, interoperability and public services into a unified digital public infrastructure strategy.

Digital transformation should be tangible, minister urges

At the OECD Global Symposium on Open Government, Indonesia’s Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, Rini Widyantini, spoke about how states should approach national digitization.

Widyantini argued that digital transformation is too often obscured by technical jargon like cloud infrastructure and interoperability. According to the minister, citizens do not experience government through technical terminology. She pointed out how people do not wake up thinking about backend mechanics, nor do they trust a government simply because it adopts artificial intelligence.

“Perhaps this is a paradox many countries face today,” she said, as reported by Gov Insider. “We are becoming far more digital, but are we becoming any simpler?”

Widyantini stressed that meaningful digital transformation should advance social equity and that its ultimate goal should be rebuilding public trust and not merely an exercise in technology modernization.

Indonesia’s government is strengthening its digital public infrastructure (DPI) to simplify existing systems. By establishing robust foundations in digital identity, integrated payments and secure data exchange, the government aims to streamline operations. The focus is to ensure backend systems produce a tangible impact for everyday users.

The real-world value of this infrastructure overhaul was demonstrated through a successful social protection pilot program in Banyuwangi, East Java, she said. The government now plans to implement this program across more than 40 cities and regencies across the country.

Previously, vulnerable citizens faced lengthy verification processes to receive state assistance. Some waited months to find out if they qualified for social aid. Meanwhile, they continued to spend limited money traveling to government offices to submit physical documents.

By integrating digital identity and enabling secure, inter-agency data exchange, waiting times have plummeted. Verification that once took between 75 and 200 days can now reportedly be completed in mere minutes or hours. Widyantini noted that this drastic reduction lowers administrative costs and uncertainty for thousands of families. It provides immediate access to a safety net when it is required most.

Indonesia is accelerating several key national initiatives. This includes the development of an integrated portal called INAku. The platform is designed to consolidate public services into a single digital journey. This effort is supported by the rapid rollout of the Indonesian digital ID system, which already connects millions of users to essential services.

A new national interoperability infrastructure enables secure data sharing across different state agencies. The government is also expanding GovTech Indonesia, which serves as an institutional layer for aligning services, data and business processes under a unified framework.

Widyantini concluded that the success of these initiatives will be measured by whether citizens feel the state is responsive to their struggles and worthy of their trust. Indonesia last week announced it is joining the 50-in-5 campaign, the global initiative to deploy DPI across the Global South.

Article Topics

biometric verification  |  biometrics  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  digital public infrastructure  |  Dukcapil  |  Indonesia  |  SIM card registration