Indonesia amends legislation to introduce digital ID for access to govt services

Indonesia has amended its legislation on Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) to institute digital ID for authentication and access to government services.

Tempo details in a report that the move is part of the second amendment of the law and seeks to limit infringements on personal data in accordance with provisions of the country’s Personal Data Protection Law.

Data violation incidents are frequently reported in Indonesia, despite the country having Personal Data Protection legislation.

Semuel Abrijani, director general of informatics applications in the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo), explained the advantages of the digital ID and how it can be obtained.

The official explained that the digital ID is a unique set of numbers that will be used for all online transactions, and to have access to different services offered by government institutions and private sector entities.

The digital ID, he said, will enable service seekers to share only as much data as is required by the verifying entity. The verification is done by matching the information linked to the digital ID with data held by the country’s civil registration authority.

Only Electronic Certification Providers (PsrE) are allowed by the law to issue digital IDs, and Kominfo has explained how they should do so. A list of the providers is found on the Kominfo website, and some of them include Privy, the Public Printing Company of the Republic of Indonesia, the Electronic Certification Center of the National Cyber and Encryption Agency, and PT Indonesia Digital Identity (VIDA). The government has also outlined requirements which companies must fulfil in order to become Indonesian PsrE.

Meanwhile, Kominfo recently introduced a digital signatures and stamps system in the Regency of Berau. Per a Kominfo blog post, the service will be used by government and public sector institutions as part of digital transformation efforts in the East Kalimantan Province of the country. Officials recently held a sensitization event to prepare public bodies and small and medium-sized enterprises for the change. The say the novelty will strengthen digital authentication.

Early this year, the World Bank proposed a $250 million support for the development of Indonesia’s digital ID ecosystem, which it said, will drive the country’s digital economic growth and development resilience.

In September, Indonesia awarded a contract to a subsidiary of Totm Technologies to provide an automated biometric identification system (ABIS) for the country’s national digital ID program.

Article Topics

data protection  |  digital ID  |  government services  |  Indonesia  |  Kominfo  |  legislation  |  PrivyID