The personal data protection bill would provide certainty regarding data protection, particularly for victims of illegal online lenders whose personal data are leaked, Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) Wahyudi Djafar has said.

“The personal data protection bill will provide legal certainty regarding personal data protection and provide regulations on reporting personal data leak or abuse,” he told ANTARA in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He expressed the hope that the bill would establish a mechanism for reporting grievances and provide a medium for data leak victims to question data controllers, including online lenders.

“The personal data protection law would provide the legal basis for victims to question their data controllers regarding the leak,” Djafar said.

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has conceived a regulation to handle illegal online lending cases, but a law on data protection remains necessary, he added.

“The legal basis for data protection would be stronger after the data protection law is passed,” he noted.

The personal data protection bill should regulate the duties and obligations of data controllers as consequences of collecting personal data from data subjects, he said. Financial technology service providers and online loan companies are among the data controllers that are within the scope of the bill, Djafar stated.

Despite its initial goal to establish an inclusive financial service, uncontrolled financial technology development without firm security instruments to protect personal data causes more harm than good to users seeking relief for financial problems, he warned.

“Because the law regulating data controllers does not exist yet, public members are harmed by unregulated personal data collection system,” Djafar remarked.

Source: Antara News