Data Security and Digital Public Services

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

A person with a disability undergoes recording to make an Electronic ID card in Palembang, Thursday (25/2/2021).

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought awareness of the importance of digital public services. The government is ready to provide not only the infrastructure for this but also human resources, although the required legislation on personal data protection still has not been approved by the House of Representatives (DPR).

Despite the public’s appreciation, digital public services has not been widely used. In addition to infrastructure issues, the public still faces difficulties in using public services online.

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Poor use of digital public service facilities can be seen from the results of the Kompas Research & Development (Litbang) survey in the third week of August. More than a half of the respondents (52 percent) acknowledged that they had never used digital public services, while only 13 percent of respondents said they regularly used digital public services.

It is unfortunate that only a limited number of people use digital public services, because most respondents said digital services gave many benefits to the people.

The survey results showed that a large number of respondents used digital public services to process civil registration documents, such as identity cards (KTPs) and driver\'s licenses (SIMs). More than half of the respondents (56.7 percent) said that processing civil registration documents online was helpful.

Digital public services is becoming more relevant amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in public health services such as documents related to the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan). In addiiton, it is also used to manage travel data through platforms like the e-HAC (electronic Health Alert Card) and the PeduliLindungi Covid-19 tracking app. In short, managing and processing documents digitally is safer and more convenient because applicants do not need to leave home and wait in long queues at public offices.

According to respondents, another benefit of digital public services is that it reduces the chances of corruption, collusion, and nepotism. It has become public knowledge that Indonesia’s public services is plagued with corruption practices that are, of course, very detrimental to the public. With digital public services, people no longer need "insiders" to be able to quickly process their documents.

Kompas/Bahana Patria Gupta

Residents show queue numbers to arrange for electronic ID cards at the Siola Public Service Mall, Surabaya, Monday (17/5/2021).

In a larger context, respondents also said the use of digital technology could help improve the quality of Indonesian democracy. At least 15 percent of survey respondents said digital systems could make it easier for the public to monitor the government’s performance. For example, the public could participate in monitoring the use of local government budgets through goods and services procurement reports that were periodically uploaded online.

Government readiness

Although digital public services are not yet optimally used, more than half of the respondents (57.8 percent) said the government demonstrated readiness in providing the necessary infrastructure. Likewise in terms of human resources (HR), the government was also ready to implement digital public services.

The latest data showed that more than 12,000 villages in the country still lacked the infrastructure and facilities needed for 4G internet access.

However, public perception does not always reflect the reality in the field, particularly because infrastructure development in the context of government digitalization is still not evenly distributed across the country. In fact, many rural areas in Indonesia still do not have internet access. The latest data showed that more than 12,000 villages in the country still lacked the infrastructure and facilities needed for 4G internet access.

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Unequal internet access has a major implication in the implementation of the government\'s push for digital technology. The lack of such infrastructure and facilities not only hampers digital public services but also affects digital culture in society.

The results of the R & D Kompas survey showed that public unpreparedness was the main reason why digital government services were still rarely used. More than a half of the respondents said the public was still unfamiliar with digital public services. This factor is deemed to be far more relevant than other factors, such as infrastructure or the competency of state human resources.

Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan

Gading, not his real name, took a photo of his ID card for online loan administration purposes in Pinang, Tangerang, Banten, Wednesday (18/8/2021).

It is thus no wonder that Indonesia still lags far behind its neighboring countries in terms of digital governance. According to the results of the United Nations’ 2020 e-Government Development Index (EGDI), Indonesia ranks 88th out of the 193 countries measured. Although this is an improvement from its previous ranking of 107th in the 2017 index, Indonesia still ranks below neighbors such as Thailand (60th), Brunei Darussalam (57th), and Malaysia (47th).

In fact, the public has very high expectations for public services that use a single database. At least three-quarters of the survey respondents believed that the government would one day be able to provide digital public services based on the population identification number (NIK). Unfortunately, given the current situation, especially with the corruption case related to the procurement of electronic ID cards, it seems the government still has a long way to go to fulfill such expectations.

Data security

In addition to unequal internet distribution and an underdeveloped digital culture, the government also needs to immediately resolve issues concerning data security. Along with the government\'s digital transformation efforts to provide public services online, there have been countless cases of data leaks that originate from official government websites.

No doubt, personal data security has become the public’s most highlighted issue in terms of implementing policies on digital governance.

This year alone saw at least one case of personal data leak that was quite shocking. President Joko Widodo\'s personal data for vaccine certification was widely circulated on the internet. The leak of the President’s personal data raised public concerns, as not even the President’s personal data could be protected. No doubt, personal data security has become the public’s most highlighted issue in terms of implementing policies on digital governance.

This shows that the success of the government\'s digitalization program also depends on completing several projects that have been temporarily halted. The government’s plan to install internet towers in rural areas, for example, will not accelerate digital transformation of public services if citizens’ personal data cannot be protected. Until now, progress still remains unclear in the ongoing deliberation of the Personal Data Protection Bill at the DPR.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

The display of the electronic ID card of Suhanah (82), a resident of Kedung Jaya Village, Bogor City, when taking care of an ID card is served by an officer who records electronic ID card data at her home, Tuesday (21/7/2020).

Without certainty about personal data security, it will be difficult for the public to use and trust digital public services and facilities. In the end, this will have an impact on public trust in using the digital services that are provided by the government. Do not allow the costly infrastructure and facilities the government has built to be relegated to non-optimal use, just because the people are worried about the security of their personal data.

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi).