"I hope the public realizes that our data is prone (to fraud) when our data is frequently sent everywhere,"
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Home Affairs Ministry has coordinated with the Communication and Informatics Ministry concerning illegal trading of citizens' personal data on social media, according to Zudan Arif Fakrulloh, the ministry's Population and Civil Registry Director General.

The ministry has asked the Communication and Informatics Ministry to erase pictures containing personal data such as on electronic ID cards and Family Cards (KK) posted on the Internet.

Reporters also must not publish pictures of e-ID cards and KK in full size, but the data in the pictures must first be made blurry, he said here Tuesday.

He reminded the public not to publish their ID cards and KK pictures on the Internet.

"I hope the public realizes that our data is prone (to fraud) when our data is frequently sent everywhere," he said.

The Home Affairs Ministry Tuesday reported a case of illegal trading of citizens' personal data, to the National Police's Crime Investigation Department (Bareskrim).

He hoped the police would soon be able to arrest the perpetrators of illegal data dissemination and trading that has worried the public.

The Home Affairs Ministry, so far, is the government's institution that has stored personal data of Indonesian citizens for electronic Identification (ID) cards and the Family Cards.

The ministry recently admitted that it has allowed limited use of population data by certain private companies and institutions, or based only on the needs, for verification purposes.

The Home Affairs Ministry has agreed to limited access to citizens’ personal data, with 1,227 companies and institutions, including some 800 banks, 100 stock exchange companies, 50 insurance companies, four universities and eight legal enforcement institutions, according to reports.

The right given to private institutions to use the data for verification is safe, member of the Ombudsman, Alvin Lie, has asserted.

Lie acknowledged the misunderstanding circulating in public that private institutions have access to personal data. The fact is, the private institutions are only given access to verify data, hence that is not an unconstitutional practice, he said.

“The circulating (rumor) is (the private institutions) be given access to data, when in fact, it is only to verify, to check the data validity in order to protect (from fake identities),” Lie said, as reported on the official website of the government, setkab.go.id. on July 25, 2019.

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Translator: Arnidhya NZ, Fardah
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019