DPR Targets Bill Of Personal Data Protection Completed In Early 2021

Personal data protection illustration (pixabay)

JAKARTA - The Draft Law on Personal Data Protection (RUU PDP) is still being discussed in the DPR. Where Commission I of the DPR has included the PDP Bill in the 2020 Priority Prolegnas.

Member of Commission I DPR RI, Abdul Kadir Karding confirmed that the discussion of the bill on the protection of personal data will be completed no later than the beginning of 2021. This is because there are many substances that must be discussed so that this regulation becomes the right legal umbrella for internet users in Indonesia.

"We (DPR) are very serious about discussing the PDP Bill. I hope, hopefully by the beginning of 2021 it will be completed, we must be fast but still with good quality laws," said Karding, in the Alinea Forum webinar entitled 'Waiting for Assertiveness. Commitment to Maintain the Security of Personal Data ', Tuesday, 21 July.

According to Karding, Commission I of the DPR, has seen that the PDP Bill has an urgency to be passed immediately. Especially in the state's efforts to uphold the integrity of Indonesian public information data in the context of digital cyber.

He admitted, currently Indonesia does not have sovereignty over big data that is digitally processed and thoroughly both personal information, e-KTP data and so on. As a simple example, Mr. Tjahjo Kumolo (Minister of Home Affairs) once said that the e-KTP server is not in the country, so accessing or processing these data is not easy.

"Therefore, Pak Jokowi once said that data is more valuable than oil in today's technological era. On that basis, the DPR agrees with this statement, that regulations must be prepared without compromise," said the PKB politician.

Presentation of the material on the PDP Bill (doc. Slide material of the DPR)

Big Data Commodities

The same thing was also conveyed by the Chairman of the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII) Jamalul Izza, where the PDP Bill is a very urgent regulation to be passed by the DPR. The reason is that there are quite a lot of potential problems that will be related to personal data, without a clear legal umbrella.

For example, until now there are still a lot of Indonesian internet user data stored abroad. When viewed economically, data has priceless prices and benefits, if it is used by foreigners who understand the benefits of big data in cyberspace.

"For example, 1 account is valued at 2 US dollars in the virtual world marketplace, then with the number of Indonesian internet users reaching 175.4 million. The potential income of data managed for the country reaches Rp80 trillion," he explained.

Chairperson of APJII Jamalul Izza (screenshot of the webinar)

Jamalul estimates that Indonesia has the potential to gain large profits or income if it succeeds in storing and processing the data domestically. With the aim of preventing the state from being disadvantaged economically, including weakening its defense and security by foreign parties.

"Data access to governance and personal data of the people must remain in Indonesia, apart from law enforcement there is economic value that can be generated if these data are owned by Indonesia," he concluded.

He added that the DPR and the Indonesian government can take examples of policies and regulations that have been regulated in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). These regulations as a whole provide a clear legal umbrella for the data sovereignty of a country.