VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The House of Representatives (DPR) must soon pass a Bill on Protection of Personal Data into a law following data breach involving millions of Indonesia's online shoppers, Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) researcher stated. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a law that protects personal data was deemed urgent since several people preferred to shop online, CIPS researcher Ira Aprilianti noted in a statement here on Wednesday.

"With the enactment of Large-Scale Social Distancing (PSBB), increasingly more number of consumers are conducting online transactions," she pointed out. There is a pressing need to enact the Bill on Personal Data Protection to protect e-commerce consumers.

Misuse of personal data of e-commerce service providers is quite common. In several cases concerning fintech companies, consumer data is disseminated and traded without the customer's consent. Consumer data leakage and illegal data trading could disadvantage consumers and affect the credibility of online shopping companies, which in turn will harm their businesses.

"The Personal Data Protection Bill ideally regulates the rights and obligations of service providers and consumers. It must clarify the purpose of using personal data and regulate what data can be accessed by service providers in connection with the transaction," she noted. 

Currently, 32 laws and regulations on personal data protection exist, and their implementation and supervision lie in the hands of various ministries and institutions. Aprilianti cited several regulations on personal data protection, such as the Telecommunications Law, Information and Electronic Transactions Act (ITE), Consumer Protection Act, and Trade Law, as well as several governmental and ministerial regulations. The implementation of regulations and supervision of personal data protection become difficult since the authorities are under several ministries, particularly the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics//ANT