Jakarta. A minister said Thursday that the data transfer clause in Jakarta’s tariff deal with the US was meant to protect Indonesians when they use American digital services like Facebook and Instagram.

Both countries recently reached a trade agreement that would see Indonesia opening up its entire market to US goods. In return for a double-digit cut to the looming reciprocal tariffs, Indonesia is open to legally recognizing the US as a country that has "adequate data protection", paving the way for a cross-border data transfer. The deal immediately sparked fears of the government sacrificing its citizens' personal information just to appease US President Donald Trump’s tariff wrath.

The government immediately rushed to cool down the panic. Most recently, Communications Minister Meutya Hafid reassured the public that the pact did not mean Indonesia would freely hand over the citizens’ personal data to the US.

“[The agreement] can provide a legitimate, secure, measurable legal basis for personal data protection of Indonesians when they use digital services provided by US-based companies, such as search engines, social media, cloud services, and e-commerce,” Meutya said.

Facebook and Instagram—both widely popular in Indonesia—will fall within this category. Meutya said: “The cross-border personal data transfer is allowed if it is for legitimate, limited, and legally justifiable purposes.” 

Another case in point is when Indonesians use search engines like Google and Bing or communicate via WhatsApp. The same goes for when they shop on American online marketplaces, according to Meutya. “Transaction processing on e-commerce platforms is among the concrete examples of legitimate data transfer activities,” the former newscaster said.

She promised that Indonesian authorities would strictly supervise any cross-border data flow by adhering to the “principle of prudence” and “national legal provisions”. Indonesia will use its 2022 Personal Data Protection Law as the legal framework. This document will require the US to have a level of data protection that is on par with or better than Indonesia’s data protection law. 

“The government ensures that any data transfers to the US are not carried out haphazardly,” Meutya said.

Both sides are currently drafting the final trade agreement. The document is expected to be ready in the coming weeks, although the Indonesian government to this day can’t give a fixed timeframe of when it will be signed. Haryo Limanseto, the spokesman at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, told reporters on Wednesday evening that what the agreement meant was not personal data, but rather commercial data.

“Commercial data, on the other hand, leans towards processed information. It can encompass information related to sales volume in a certain region. Imagine a bank collects data and does some research on the information that they have gathered. That's what we meant by commercial data,” Haryo said. 

"We will also not give away any strategic data related to state secrets."

Indonesia’s law also divides personal data into two different categories, with the first being general information (e.g. name, gender, marital status). The second is specific personal data, which is more sensitive in nature. This might include biometrics, as well as medical and criminal records.

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