Indonesia brushes off concern on data transfer to the US
JAKARTA : Indonesia on Thursday denied warnings that the transfer of personal data agreed in a trade deal with the US this week would put people's rights at risk.
After weeks of negotiations, the White House said that it had reached an agreement with Jakarta that lowered tariffs on US-bound goods from the Southeast Asian nation, from 32% to 19%.
US President Donald Trump said the reduction was in return for significant purchase commitments from Jakarta, including the purchase of 50 Boeing jets.
The White House said Tuesday that Indonesia had also committed to removing barriers that impact digital trade and will provide certainty regarding the transfer of personal data to the US.
Jakarta said negotiations on the details continued to be held.
But experts warned the personal data transfer to a foreign country would be a further drain on Indonesia's already weak data protection apparatus.
'If there's a leak or improper use of the data, solving the problem would be a lot more complicated if the data is in another country,' Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara, executive director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies.
He said some American companies had been complaining about the Indonesian digital payment system, Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard, or QRIS, which they believed did not benefit their companies.
With the tariff deal, the companies can access citizens' data, Bhima said.
'I don't know if the government is aware of how serious this is. We open all access to our data just for a lower tariff.'
However, Jakarta reassured that the system was safe.
'The government assures that the data transfer to the US will not be carried out carelessly,' said digital communication minister Meutia Hafidz in a statement Thursday.
'On the contrary, the whole process will be conducted within a secure and reliable data governance framework.'
She added that 'the data transfer between countries would still be carried out under the tight supervision of the Indonesian authorities, with high caution, based on the national law.'
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