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

The coronavirus pandemic has severely affected the tourism industry in Raja Ampat District in the Indonesian province of West Papua, said head of the Indonesian Tourist Guides Association (PHI), Raja Ampat chapter, Ranny Iriani Tumundo. The current COVID-19 outbreak has kept tourists away from Raja Ampat, with no arrivals recorded so far. As a result, 184 tourist guides have lost their jobs since March this year, Tumundo told journalists on Wednesday. Tourist guides were making a living by offering their services to visiting travelers. But, the COVID-19 outbreak has put a halt to tourist inflows, partly owing to the enforcement of travel restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic, Tumundo noted. The out-of-job tourist guides are members of PHI, and 80 percent of them are married with children. To feed their families, many of them have tried to find new jobs, but they are not easy to come by amid the ongoing health crisis, he pointed out. 

"We all pray for God's mercy. May this storm vanish soon so that our tourism industry can run again. For all members of PHI, please stay healthy, and follow the COVID-19 preventive measures," he averred.

Raja Ampat is often called "Heaven on Earth", "Miracle of Papua", "Underwater Paradise on Earth", or "Real Wonder of the World" for its mesmerizing marine panoramas//ANT

Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has decided not to conduct a face-to-face population census, originally scheduled for May this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency’s chairman Suhariyanto said on Wednesday. The census had earlier been postponed until September this year, but has now been cancelled as the BPS has decided to slash its budget by 41 percent.

“The BPS has cut its budget fund by 41 percent, so it will not conduct the face-to-face census this year," Suhariyanto said during a working meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The BPS now plans to mobilize 1.2 million neighborhood unit chiefs across Indonesia to distribute questionnaires to households as a substitute for the face-to-face census, he informed.

"There will be no face-to-face census in 2020. But, we will take samples in 2021 because the questions are more complete," he added. 

Although some regions are implementing social distancing, the BPS is committed to publishing strategic data to assess the extent to which COVID-19 has impacted social and economic life. As of May 5, 2020, 42 million people have registered for the online population census, the first of its kind in the country, initiated by the agency, Suhariyanto declared//ANT

Bank Indonesia (BI) is buoyant about the rupiah strengthening to below Rp15,000 per US dollar during Wednesday's trading on the back of several factors, including expectations of the US economy recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. As quoted by Antara News Agency, BI Governor Perry Warjiyo  in an online press statement on Wednesday stated that several areas in the United States have begun their economic activities. Warjiyo noted that the Fed had also projected an improvement in the US economy in the second semester of 2020 after reeling from recession in the previous semester. The Fed statement will offer a positive impetus to the rupiah's exchange rate against global currencies//Ant