Protecting public strategic data is essential and that is going to be addressed by the drafting of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDP Bill).
According to a recent press release, the Indonesian Government is in the process of finalising the PDP Bill.
Why is this Law important?
The Minister of Communications and Information Rudiantara explained the significance of the PDP Law for the People of Indonesia.
In a statement during the Seminar on Growing Awareness of Personal Data Protection: Needs and Challenges in Jakarta recently, he shared that regulating data is important because of how much data is being exchanged.
At present, data exchange is required in almost all aspects of life. If only it is not needed, then there will be no need to create a Personal Data Protection Law.
The Minister then proceeded to give an example. The telecommunications industry, for instance, which involves the operators as well as the customers, would require these two parties to share data.
Data such as call data records are kept by both the operator and the customer.
The health sector is another example that was provided. The Minister hypothesised that data is important if someone ill and was handled by specialist A, but would require a second opinion from specialist B.
If the data exchange and transfer between specialists was not regulated, the consequence would be dire.
The health problem of the patient will not be addressed properly as there will be no records to pass between the two.
Having an existing umbrella that will rule and protect over the exchange of personal data will, according to the Minister, simplify the process for the health sector.
With the Law in place, it will be easier to transfer and exchange data automatically. No more need for the patient to manually submit and bring their own personal data as they transfer specialists.
What does the Law entail?
The Minister added the significance of obtaining consent from the person involved before sharing or transferring their personal data.
As reported, buying and selling personal data practices are a violation against the law with charges of criminal penalties and fine.
Besides personal data safety, the decree also manages sensitive data or personal data that require special protection.
These data pertain to data on religion or faith, health, physical and mental condition, sexual condition, personal finance, and other sensitive data.
The law on personal data protection would furnish better security on private data and avert data manipulation.
There are several sectors that require personal data to be shared. Aside from the health sector, the trade sector and the e-commerce, among others, will need data also.
The Government needs to take all of these into consideration as they finalise the PDP Bill.
The harmonisation of the PDP Law has been completed as of present. Hopefully, the designing process will not take a long time in order to pass the bill immediately.