Santo Domingo.- The Central Electoral Board (JCE) announced this Monday a series of forceful measures to stop and sanction the unauthorized collection of biometric data carried out by private entities in the country.
Through a statement, the organization reported that these practices, recently reported in the media, contravene the Constitution and Law No. 4-23, Organic of the Acts of the Civil State, which reserves exclusively to the JCE the custody, processing and management of citizens’ biometric data.
The controversy revolves around a project called WorldCoinwhich has been operating in different shopping malls in the country.
According to complaints, this initiative collects biometric data by scanning the iris of the eyes in exchange for economic compensation, a practice that the JCE described as illegal and risky for the protection of the identity of Dominicans.
Central Electoral Board (JCE)
Support for Proconsumidor and judicial action
The JCE expressed its support for the measure adopted by the National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights (Proconsumidor), which ordered the immediate suspension of activities related to WorldCoin.
Furthermore, the plenary session of the electoral body ordered its Legal Consultancy to take legal action before the competent courts to declare the absolute nullity of these practices, present and future.
According to Article 58 of Law No. 4-23, no private entity is authorized to collect, process or use biometric data, while Article 59 grants exclusive status to the JCE to carry out these activities.
The Board also demanded that, in accordance with article 216 of said law, the removal of any biometric data already captured by these companies.
Exhortation to citizens
In its statement, the JCE urged the Dominican population to do not give up your biometric data to private entities that do not comply with current legal provisions.
“These actions represent a significant risk to the security of people’s identity and violate fundamental rights enshrined in Dominican legislation,” the institution emphasized.
The JCE stressed that the civil registry, including custody and identity preservation of the Dominican people, is an exclusive responsibility of the institution, in accordance with article 212 of the Constitution.
Measures to strengthen data protection
The organization also called for strengthening awareness measures about the importance of protecting personal information and the risks associated with its delivery to third parties without legal guarantees. This initiative is part of the JCE’s efforts to ensure the security of personal data and prevent practices such as those reported from being repeated in the future.
