Government to Educate MSMEs on Personal Data Protection

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Communication and Digital will provide education to micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) players regarding the implementation of Law Number 27 of 2022 concerning Personal Data Protection.

“There will be education regarding the PDP Law. Of course, we will not use a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach; we will not treat everyone the same,” said the Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital, Nezar Patria, in Jakarta on Thursday, following the issuance of implementing regulations for the personal data protection law.

MSME players who utilise digital platforms to support their business activities may collect personal data, ranging from addresses to contact numbers, from their service users.

According to the law on personal data protection, parties that collect personal data, or personal data controllers, are required to have a specialised official known as a Data Protection Officer (DPO).

The duty of the data protection officer includes ensuring that business operators comply with the provisions for processing the personal data of citizens that has been collected.

In large-scale businesses, the requirement to provide a DPO should not pose a problem, as they possess significant resources.

However, MSME players with small-scale operations and limited resources may find it difficult to meet such obligations.

They could also face sanctions if their customers’ personal data is leaked and exploited by other parties.

Therefore, the government needs to increase literacy among MSME players so they understand how to properly handle consumer data and implement the applicable provisions regarding data protection.