Indonesia brushes off privacy concerns over Covid-19 app

Tourism and Creative Economi Minister Sandiaga Uno checks in to XXI PGC Cililitan, East Jakarta through PeduliLindugi app. - Courtesy of Kemenparekraf

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): The government insists that its mobile Covid-19 tracking application, PeduliLindungi, does not keep users’ personal data indefinitely and that measures have been taken to improve data protection and use, following a recent United States government report that raises concerns over the potential interference of privacy.

In its 2021 Indonesia report on human rights practices issued last week, the US Department of State flagged “NGO concerns about what information was gathered by the application and how this data was stored and used by the [Indonesian] government", in a small subsection dedicated to unlawful interference with privacy.