Why is Photocopying ID Cards Prohibited and in Violation of Privacy Protection?
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Director General (Dirjen) of Population and Civil Registration at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Teguh Setyabudi, has reminded that the act of duplicating or photocopying e-KTP potentially violates regulations.
“In truth, e-KTP no longer needs to be photocopied, as it is actually a violation of PDP (Personal Data Protection),” said Teguh in Depok City, West Java, on Wednesday (6/5/2026).
This practice is also deemed contrary to Article 16 of the PDP Law as well as Articles 79 and 84 of Law Number 23 of 2006 on Population Administration as amended by Law Number 24 of 2013.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has revealed that electronic ID cards are equipped with chips that can be read digitally.
Nevertheless, not a few public service offices require photocopies of electronic ID cards for certain needs.
“The utilisation of e-KTP, which is already equipped with a chip that should be readable electronically via card readers or other devices, but currently many are still photocopied,” Teguh told Kompas.com on Thursday (7/5/2026).
“Because indeed some user institutions in the administrative process are still using manual systems and physical archives,” said Teguh.
He added that several regulations in various agencies still require the use of ID card photocopies, so those rules need to be reviewed.
“Such efforts are certainly our collective homework, our joint work, all related stakeholders, various ministries and agencies, and certainly the public also has a very important role,” he emphasised.
Teguh urged user institutions, especially those requiring high security levels, to start switching to electronic population data verification systems, such as card readers, web services, web portals, face recognition, or Digital Population Identity (IKD).
Meanwhile, for small institutions or uses with low verification levels, he considered it sufficient to check the name and photo on the identity without needing to request a photocopy of the ID card.
“No need to ask for a photocopy, because once again it does not comply with Law 27 of 2022 on PDP,” he stressed.