Lestari Moerdijat Urges Massive Campaign to Protect Children's Personal Data

Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Lestari Moerdijat believes the alleged misuse of children’s personal data in the registration for Early Childhood Education (PAUD) serves as an alarm regarding the vulnerability of population data protection. The case also demonstrates the public’s persistently low literacy concerning personal data security.

“This incident shows that population data, which should be protected, can instead be misused. This is a consequence of a lack of understanding and supervision in the management of personal data,” Lestari Moerdijat said in a statement on Thursday (6/8/2026).

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) is currently investigating a viral case involving children’s data allegedly being hijacked and entered into the Basic Education Data (Dapodik) system without parental consent. The action is suspected to have been carried out to manipulate the School Operational Assistance (BOSP) funds.

The case came to light through complaints from several parents on social media who discovered their children’s names and National Identity Numbers (NIK) were registered at PAUD institutions they had never visited.

Responding to this, Lestari urged the government to immediately intensify massive socialisation on the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of personal data, particularly the NIK and Family Card (KK).

Lestari asserted that personal data protection literacy in the digital era must become a priority agenda. “The public, especially parents, need to be educated not to carelessly hand over personal data and to proactively check the status of their children’s data on the official Kemendikdasmen website,” she added.

The NasDem Party High Council member also stressed the importance of data supervision alongside efforts to expand access to quality PAUD. This is because data from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) records that around 20,000 out of 82,000 villages in Indonesia still lack PAUD services.

“The equitable distribution of PAUD must be accompanied by transparent and accountable data governance, so that children receive proper educational services and their rights are protected,” she concluded.