JakartaPost-July 24
A trade agreement between Indonesia and the United States set to include provisions on personal data transfers has raised alarms about the potential undermining of Indonesia’s data sovereignty. According to a joint statement on the framework for the prospective settlement published on the White House website on Tuesday, Jakarta agreed to provide certainty regarding personal data transfers from Indonesia to the US and eliminate tariffs on intangible products by recognizing the US as having “adequate” data protection. Communication and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid wrote in a statement on Thursday that the negotiation was still ongoing, as previously conveyed by President Prabowo Subianto. She added that the agreement could serve as a legal basis for protecting the personal data of Indonesian citizens when using digital services provided by US-based companies, such as search engines, social media cloud services and e-commerce. “The government will ensure that data transfer to the US will not be carried out carelessly. On the contrary, the whole process will be conducted within a secure and reliable data governance framework,” Meutya noted, adding that the transfer would be carried out under “tight supervision of the Indonesian authorities, with high caution, based on the national law.” On the same day, Coordinating Economy Minister Airlangga Hartarto said at a press conference that Jakarta had agreed to establish a secure protocol for managing cross-border data flows with the US, without elaborating. “Cross-border [services] are not limited to the US and include other countries,” he noted, adding that Indonesia had prepared a range of such protocols, including one implemented in the Nongsa Digital Park special economic zone (SEZ) in Batam, Riau Islands. Airlangga added that 12 US tech companies, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft and Google Cloud, have complied with national regulations by building data centers in Indonesia. Digital advocacy groups, however, have raised concerns over the agreement’s potential threat to domestic data rights and privacy, as well as compromised control over the country’s digital infrastructure. Read more at:
