Developments in Indonesia's data privacy regulation : a brief study of the Ministerial Regulation on Personal Data Protection in Electronic Systems No. 20 of 2016

Data privacy issues are emerging and becoming an increasing concern for Indonesians. In response to these concerns, the Minister of Communications and Information issued Regulation No. 20 of 2016 regarding the Personal Data Protection in Electronic Systems ("New Regulation"). The New Regulation is an implementation of Article 15 of Government Regulation Number 82 of 2012. The New Regulation provides detailed guidelines on how organisations should collect, process, store, use, disclose, provide access to data subjects, and delete or destroy personal data. Failure to comply with the provision under the New Regulation could lead to administrative sanctions, including verbal warnings, warning letters, temporary suspension of business activities, and announcement on online website. This paper examines if the New Regulation improves protection for personal data and if it meets the standards set under the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into effect in 25 May 2018. In the process, it identifies the gaps and inconsistencies in the New Regulation and concludes with some recommendations for future directions.