Thus, make privacy protection attempt to become (public’s daily) behavior,
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Director general of informatics application at the Communication and Information Ministry, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, urged Indonesians to strengthen personal data protection practices to prevent any data breach or exploitation by irresponsible parties.

"These practices must be developed in all ecosystems… Everyone must take care (of data security), including the data subject (or owner and take care) to not share (their) data carelessly," he said at the International Data Privacy Day commemoration here on Monday.

In the current digital era, protecting personal data is very important because almost every activity in the digital space requires users to share their data, he emphasized.

Hence, the director general asked all parties, including data owners and stakeholders managing data, to make a commitment to protecting personal data.

"Everyone must be involved in guarding it (personal data) in synergy because, if something happens (to the data), it will harm everyone… Thus, make privacy protection attempt to become (public’s daily) behavior," he said.

It will be very dangerous if any irresponsible party manages to get their hands on someone's personal data since it can be used to carry out fraudulent actions targeting the financial accounts of the data owner, he explained.

Pangerapan appealed to the public to take mitigation measures if there is any indication that their personal data has been leaked.

"Every person who may be affected (by a data breach) can mitigate the risks that will arise, for instance, changing (their) pin (numbers) or passwords, thus they will not suffer from further losses," he said.

The Communication and Information Ministry has vowed to continue disseminating information regarding personal data security to the public through the implementation of the National Digital Literacy Movement.

The ministry will also collaborate with various parties, including business actors, to encourage the community to be more aware about the importance of protecting personal data.

"The key is to change the (community’s) mindset because (many people) in Indonesia do not have (understand) the concept of privacy. Thus, people's behavior must be changed," the director general added.


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Translator: Fathur Rochman, Uyu Liman
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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