Academic Warns of 'Data Colonialism' Risk Behind Worldcoin's Retina Scans
Reporter
May 7, 2025 | 10:19 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Derry Wijaya, Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Data Science Program at Monash University Indonesia, has raised concerns over the use of biometric data by the Worldcoin application, calling the practice risky and controversial.
He criticized the company’s offer of cash incentives in exchange for retina scans. “Our retina data is actually very specific data,” said Derry in a video posted to his Instagram account on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
Worldcoin and its related WorldID service have drawn public attention for rewarding users with digital tokens, worth between Rp300,000 and Rp800,000, after they scan their retinas using a device known as the orb. These tokens can be exchanged into Indonesian Rupiah.
Derry warned that retina scans are protected under the Personal Data Protection Law, and collecting such data raises ethical issues. "And this also raises controversy because it falls into the category of data colonialism,” he said. “Where data is collected by technology companies from developing countries, and then this data is used to train AI systems that will be used worldwide, especially in developed countries.”
He described this trend as a new form of colonialism. “So, it's like the colonization of the past, but the colonization of today is not about colonizers coming to our country and taking natural resources, but instead they come and take our data, which is then used to train AI systems,” he said.
Derry advised the public to be cautious with platforms that offer financial incentives in exchange for personal data. He stressed the need for transparency regarding how user data is used, stored, and protected, as well as whether users can later delete it.
The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs temporarily suspended Worldcoin and WorldID operations on May 4, 2025, following reports of long queues in Bekasi and Depok as residents lined up to register and undergo retina scans.
Worldcoin is a crypto project created by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and managed by the World Network. Its developer, Tools for Humanity (TFH), said the operational pause was voluntary while they await regulatory clarification on licensing in Indonesia.
“We hope to continue the constructive and supportive dialogue that has been established over the past year with relevant government agencies,” TFH said in a statement received by Tempo on Monday, May 5, 2025.
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