Online Gambling Networks and the Commodification of Personal Data: Addressing the Inevitability of Data Breaches

Abstract

This research investigates the legal standing and protection of personal data subjects within the Indonesian digital landscape, specifically addressing the escalating risks of data commodification and its exploitation by the illegal online gambling industry. Adopting a normative legal research methodology with a statutory and conceptual approach, this study analyzes primary and secondary legal materials, including the Indonesian PDP Law and international frameworks such as the GDPR. By synthesizing Shoshana Zuboff’s theory of surveillance capitalism with Soerjono Soekanto’s legal effectiveness framework, this study exposes a profound structural asymmetry between data controllers and subjects. The analysis reveals that while the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 27 of 2022 (PDP Law) provides a robust normative foundation, its practical efficacy is severely hampered by institutional unreadiness, forensic gaps, and a culture of "coerced consent." Benchmarked against OECD privacy principles and GDPR Recitals 40, 50, and 73, the findings indicate that Indonesia’s data protection regime remains primarily declarative rather than substantive. The research argues for a strategic shift in the national legal paradigm, moving beyond isolated administrative sanctions toward a synchronization of personal data protection and criminal law. Key recommendations include the urgent operationalization of an independent Personal Data Protection Authority, the formalization of state vicarious liability for public-sector breaches, and the implementation of a reversal of the burden of proof in digital litigation to balance the scales for marginalized data subjects. Ultimately, this study asserts that protecting digital personhood is a prerequisite for dismantling the predatory criminal ecosystems that currently thrive on the unauthorized commodification of personal information.