From Legal Awareness to Protective Behavior: Personal Data Protection in Digital Population Administration Services

The digitalization of population administration services has improved public access and service efficiency while simultaneously increasing concerns regarding the security and misuse of personal data. This study examines the level of public legal awareness of personal data protection in the independent processing of population administration documents in Madiun City, Indonesia, and identifies the factors associated with such awareness. The study employed an empirical legal research design with a quantitative approach supported by qualitative data. Data were collected from 80 respondents through a 14-item questionnaire covering four dimensions of legal awareness: legal knowledge, legal understanding, legal attitudes, and legal behavior, supplemented by interviews. The analysis was guided by Soerjono Soekanto’s framework of legal awareness and law-enforcement factors and Lawrence M. Friedman’s theory of legal culture. The findings show that 80% of respondents demonstrated a moderate level of legal awareness, while 20% reached a high level, with no respondents categorized as low. Legal attitudes and legal understanding were relatively strong, whereas legal knowledge and, particularly, legal behavior were less consistent. This pattern reveals an awareness–behavior gap in which favorable attitudes toward personal data protection are not always translated into protective practices when handling population documents. Social experience and legal culture emerged as particularly salient factors shaping this gap. The study highlights that effective personal data protection requires not only regulatory frameworks and digital service infrastructure but also sustained legal and digital literacy initiatives that transform normative awareness into consistent privacy-protective behavior.