Instead, it establishes a legitimate, secure, and measurable legal foundation for managing data flows across borders.
“The agreement provides a legal basis for protecting the personal data of Indonesian citizens when using digital services provided by US-based companies, such as search engines, social media platforms, cloud services, and e-commerce,” said Minister of Communication and Digital Meutya Hafid in a statement on Thursday.
The clarification follows earlier remarks by former US President Donald Trump, who had highlighted personal data transfers as part of a broader import tariff agreement with Indonesia.
According to an official White House statement, the arrangement is part of efforts to eliminate barriers to digital trade. It outlines that the United States and Indonesia will finalize commitments related to digital trade, services, and investment, including provisions for cross-border data flows.
One of Indonesia’s obligations is to ensure legal certainty regarding the transfer of personal data from its territory to the United States.
The ministry emphasized that the data transfer process would continue to uphold core principles of data governance, safeguard individual privacy rights, and respect Indonesia’s legal sovereignty.
Cross-border data transfers are permitted only for legitimate, limited, and legally justified purposes, including the use of search engines, cloud data storage, digital communication via social media platforms, e-commerce transaction processing, and digital research and innovation.
The government stressed that all such transfers will be under the strict supervision of Indonesian authorities, adhering to the precautionary principle and national law.
The ministry pointed to Law Number 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection and Government Regulation Number 71 of 2019 on Electronic Systems and Transactions as the legal frameworks that explicitly regulate mechanisms and prerequisites for sending personal data abroad.
All data transfers will occur under a secure governance framework, without compromising citizens’ rights
“Through this agreement, Indonesia aims to align with the global digital economy while maintaining full sovereignty over personal data supervision and enforcement,”the statement remarked.
The ministry also noted that cross-border data transfers are a common global practice, particularly among G7 countries—including the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom—which have long implemented secure and reliable data transfer mechanisms.
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Translator: Farhan Arda N, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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