How Government Performs Its Role As A Data Protection Regulator

PSE illustration. (Antara)

The Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) asked private Electronic System Operators (PSE) to register themselves. Suddenly this regulation caused a wave of protests. The Kominfo office was surrounded by demonstrators.

Even the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) opened a complaint post. It is noted that LBH received 213 complaints related to blocking steam to PayPal. As published in the media, of the hundreds of complaints received by LBH Jakarta, the majority explained the impact of the policy, including attaching losses that amounted to billions of rupiah.

The issue of registration of Private Scope PSE is regulated by Government Regulation Number 71 of 2019 concerning Electronic System and Transaction Operators, as well as Minister of Communication and Informatics Regulation Number 5 of 2020 concerning Private Scope Electronic System Operators (PSE). Through this PSE regulation, companies operating digitally in Indonesia are required to register themselves.

Private Scope PSE is different from PSE for public and government affairs such as the PeduliLindungi application. PSE Private Scope is simply an application service that many people use, for example, Facebook, Google, WhatsApp, Tiktok, Netflix, Gojek, PayPal, and others. This field includes e-commerce, digital platforms, electronic transactions, to social media.

The Director General of Informatics Application at the Ministry of Communication and Information, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan in the media said that the PSE registration was carried out for data collection of companies operating in Indonesia. The Ministry of Communication and Information stated that this rule is to protect the state and society in the digital space.

PSE, both local and foreign companies, if they provide digital services, are required to register as a Private Scope PSE with Kominfo.

This rule then reaps the pros and cons. There was even a petition to disband Kominfo. This is because Kominfo was indiscriminate, whether it's popular applications such as WhatsApp or gambling sites. One of the affected is PayPal. The application for making payments, created by Elon Musk, was blocked for not registering.

Actually, the purpose of Kominfo is good. It is a form of state concern to protect its citizens. It also proves the government's ability to protect data and the government in this case Kominfo has begun to carry out its role as a regulator in data protection.

The only problem is, Kominfo must understand exactly which applications must be blocked. If it's an online gambling site or a site that contains pornography or hoaxes, everyone agrees. But when the PayPal application is blocked for not registering, this will be a problem.

Blocking gaming sites will have an impact on the livelihoods of many people and blocking payment facilities such as PayPal will also have an impact on the economy. Indeed, Kominfo then normalized the blocking of PayPal and some online games.

People's personal data that is accessed by many digital platforms must receive adequate protection and security. But, once again the government must be observant. In this digital era, everything is growing rapidly. So, we have to be really careful about blocking. Don't let it hinder creativity in the digital world.