The Ministry Of Communication And Information Explains The Mechanism To Protect Cellular Customer Data

Screenshot of the Director General of PPI of the Ministry of Communication and Information Wayan Toni Supriyanto in Jakarta, Tuesday (19/9/2023). (ANTARA/Livia Kristianti)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) explained several mechanisms in protecting the data of mobile number customers, which currently number 338 million subscribers in Indonesia.

Starting from implementing the minimum ISO 27001 standard for cellular operators to monitoring through coordination is the Ministry of Communication and Information's way of maintaining the security of public data as mobile number customers.

"The cellular operator has provisions to protect customer data in accordance with the Minister of Communication and Informatics Regulation Number 5 of 2021 Chapter XII article 168 paragraph 5, which requires telecommunication service providers to have certification of at least ISO 27001, namely international standards for information security management," said Director General of Post and Information Administration of the Ministry of Communication and Information Wayan Toni Supriyanto as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, September 19.

Wayan said that certification must be owned by cellular operators so that investors and the public have high trust in cellular operators operating in Indonesia and this certification can ensure that customer data is safe from hackers.

According to Wayan, currently four cellular operators operating in Indonesia, namely Telkomsel, Indosat Ooredo Hutchitson, XL Axiata, and Smartfren have already pocketed the certification.

Another step is to ensure that cellular operator operations run safely, namely by supervising and controlling registration for cellular numbers, especially for prepaid services. The Ministry of Communication and Information routinely conducts field pick-up tests related to the implementation of registration policies for numbers currently based on Population Identity Numbers (NIK) and Family Cards (KK).

If a cellular operator is found that does not follow these provisions, Wayan said the Ministry of Communication and Information will impose sanctions in accordance with the level of error.

This step was taken to minimize the potential for misuse of registered mobile numbers that were not in accordance with their rights, which are currently happening a lot in the community.

To ensure the operation of cellular operators is safer, the Directorate General of PPI has also prepared internal applications that are used only by cellular operators and the Ministry of Communication and Information. The application is used as an application for monitoring the number of customers connected to the services provided by cellular operators.

Finally, to further strengthen the security system and shrink the gap for misuse of cellular numbers in Indonesia, the Ministry of Communication and Information is currently working on rules regarding KYC (Know Your Customer), recognizing customers, which are useful for making the mobile number registration system more reliable.

"Currently we are making a study for the Ministerial Regulation through technical guidelines (technical instructions) which are being prepared by our Directorate General (Ditjen PPI)," said Wayan.