The Ministry of Communications and Informatics (ICT) has confirmed that the long-awaited – and latest – revision of Government Regulation No. 82/Year 2012 (GR 82/2012) on Operation of Electronic Systems and Transactions, popularly known as the data localization regulation, is in the final stages of synchronization between the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the State Secretariat, before going to the Office of the President. The target is to release the amendment by the end of October.
 
There are two major changes in this current revision. First, is centralizing data classification, which had been in the hands of several different line ministries and agencies and will now be centralized in the ICT ministry. AmCham and member companies have long viewed this as a sensible move to ease the burden on companies. The new revision is designed to give companies greater certainty in their operations and to clarify that use of the cloud for data storage is possible for a wide range of data.
 
According to Semuel Abrijani, the director general of informatics application in the ICT ministry, public service providers will only be required to store “strategic data” in Indonesia under the draft amendment. Those that fall under the two other classifications – “high” electronic data (data elektronik tinggi) and “low” electronic data (data elektronik rendah) – can be stored outside Indonesia as long as Indonesian regulators have full, unrestricted access to them if required for security and regulatory purposes. 
 
AmCham appreciates the willingness of regulators to discuss GR82 consistently and openly with the private sector in order to reach a workable conclusion to the longstanding question of data localization.