Protecting data, guaranteeing children's rights
Social media was recently abuzz about the identity of a child who was suddenly registered at a particular school based on the Indonesian Education Basic Data (Dapodik), even though the child had not yet attended school.
The commotion began with a thread from a parent who checked their child’s identity in Dapodik and discovered the child was registered at a certain school. The thread went viral and prompted other parents to do the same. As a result, many children who had not yet started school were found to be already recorded at certain early childhood education centres (PAUD).
Upon investigation, it turned out that the schools that entered the names of children who had not yet attended school were managed by people living near the children’s homes. Several netizens said the schools were run by neighbours, neighbourhood unit (RT) administrators, or posyandu cadres. They suspected their children’s data had been “stolen” and then registered at schools they managed.
Student data in Dapodik is important for education units. Based on Minister of Finance Regulation Number 204/PMK.07/2022, PAUD institutions are entitled to receive the Early Childhood Education Operational Assistance Fund (BOP PAUD). One of the requirements is to fill in and validate data in Dapodik. The value of BOP PAUD is quite large, reaching Rp600,000 per student per year.
Filling in data in Dapodik also appears not to require original Family Card (KK) documents or birth certificates. With just the child’s NIK, family card number, and parents’ NIK, school administrators can enter a child’s name into the system. This opens a loophole for abuse; anyone with a copy of a family card can register a child without the parents’ knowledge because all the required data is already listed on the KK.
In the PAUD case, at least several violations can be identified, ranging from data falsification to theft of personal data.
The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) recorded that throughout 2025 there were more than 1,200 reports of child privacy violations, including misuse of identity data for school administration purposes.
Child identity theft, according to UNICEF Indonesia, constitutes a serious violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), particularly Article 16, which guarantees children’s right to privacy and personal data protection.
Violation of children’s rights