Jakarta, March 30, 2022 - After five sessions of the House of Representatives, the PDP Bill has yet to be passed into law. The absence of a law on personal data is contrary to Indonesia's desire to be at the forefront of the digital transformation era. The existence of a law on personal data is an important pillar in realizing transformation and a trusted and reliable digital ecosystem. In response to this, a public discussion among various stakeholders held by the Tifa Foundation on Wednesday 30 March 2022 agreed to encourage the DPR and the Government to prioritize, complete, and ratify the discussion of the PDP Bill. Indonesia must have a PDP Law that can be implemented properly. To this end, there are two main findings in the Tifa Foundation policy brief launched at the public discussion. First, the regulation and implementation of the PDP Bill is in line with international standards and local needs. Second, the importance of coordination between a single, independent PDP authority and diverse stakeholders in regulating and implementing PDP regulations.
Shita Laksmi, Executive Director of Tifa Foundation emphasized, "Indonesia must look at the long-term importance of the PDP Law's content and its proper implementation to protect people's personal data and sustain the growth of digital transformation in the country." For this reason, the Government and DPR must be willing to build a bridge of discussion to find the best way out to pass the PDP Bill. The role of civil society organizations, academics, global and local players in innovation and the digital economy in the country is also important to be involved. Tifa sees the role of a single and independent PDP authority as crucial as a prerequisite to be able to implement the PDP Law in the future.
On the same occasion, Josua Sitompul, Coordinator of Law and Cooperation of the Ministry of Communication and Information, stated that there is a need for the willingness of relevant ministries/institutions and various groups to harmonize the practices and regulations related to the use of personal data that have been going on for a long time. This is especially true when discussing sensitive aspects related to the institutional authority of various parties as well as various standards and rules related to PDP. In addition, as stated by Goldy Dharmawan, Research and Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Education and Culture Ristek, the PDP Law is also complex because it involves aspects of interoperability of existing data management systems that have not been connected to one another, such as basic education data and DirDikti data.
Meanwhile, Daniel Oscar Baskoro, Chief Operational Officer of the Ministry of Health's Digital Transformation Office (DTO), emphasized that the existence of the PDP Law is very important to support the Ministry of Health's service work, as the law provides a legal basis to protect the public as owners of personal data in accessing health services. Especially with the rapid innovation of health services, Oscar hopes that the absence of this law will not hamper the progress of health services. Furthermore, Oscar emphasized that the management of personal data in the context of a pandemic such as through the Care Protect application fully tries to comply with existing international standards due to the absence of legislation at the national level. The webinar panelists supported the importance of enacting the PDP Law immediately. In this context, as stated by Karissa Sjawaldy from Meta Indonesia, the discussion of the PDP Bill
is necessary even though it is related to complex arrangements, but it needs to be communicated more simply so that more general public and the public are involved and increasingly understand the urgency of protecting this personal data.
Furthermore, the Tifa Foundation notes several key issues that must be resolved in the draft PDP Bill, namely the need for the PDP Bill to regulate the processing of personal data in the public interest and regulate all legal bases for processing personal data equally, not just emphasizing the legal basis of consent.
More information about the policy brief launched by Tifa can be accessed below:
- Policy brief 1: Simple and Meaningful Personal Data Protection for Indonesia
- Policy brief 2: Indonesia Towards Simple and Meaningful Personal Data Protection
Contact:
- Shita Laksmi (Executive Director, Tifa Foundation)
- Sherly Haristya (Principal Investigator, Tifa Foundation)
See the full video on our Youtube channel at : TIFA FOUNDATION CHANNEL