KUALA LUMPUR – Several amendments will be made to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA) to ensure the law remains relevant and dynamic for data governance under its purview, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
During ministerial Question Time in Parliament today, Annuar listed out several major amendments, such as making it mandatory for data users to hire data protection officers and implementing a data breach notification mechanism whereby any data breach incident must be reported to the Personal Data Protection Department Commissioner within 72 hours.
Other amendments include making it mandatory for data processors to abide by safety protocols under the PDPA and allowing the transfer of personal data between data users if requested by data subjects and if the technical system would allow it.
“These proposed amendments will ensure that there is a strong and dynamic personal data policy,” he said.
Annuar said he plans to bring these amendments to be debated and hopefully passed in the next Dewan Rakyat sitting in October.
The Ketereh MP also revealed that 120,000,296 personal data points have been compromised nationwide, but stressed that not all the data fall under the purview of the PDPA, as the law only manages commercial transactions.
The minister’s answer followed repeated questioning by lawmakers on data breaches and scams in the country.
“There is a duality in terms of the data. Data managed by federal and state bodies are not governed under the existing law,” he said.
However, Annuar assured that the government will increase cooperation among the relevant government agencies to strengthen personal data protection mechanisms in the country. – The Vibes, August 4, 2022
