“Personal Data Protection Act 2010: A Need for an Informed Public, and Enforcement Understanding in Malaysia”
Introduction
The new Personal Data Protection Act 2010 will seek to achieve certain objectives under the data protection paradigm in Malaysia.
Brief Review
As a new Act, it is logical to expect the presence of persistent confusion within the public and industrial sectors with regards to the impact of the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 in the short and long term consideration.
Competitive Legal Analysis
The new Personal Data Protection Act 2010 is not an exact copy of the UK Data Protection Act 1998. In principles, there are substantive compliance with the 1995 European Union Data Protection Directive .
However the adoption and observation of different Third Party transaction and different data standard, (see 1995 European Union Data Protection Directive and the sui generis US safe harbor rules) present primary concern and obstacles for international data players (EU and US companies) having dealings with Malaysia in the light of the 1995 European Union Data Protection Directive and the imperatives of US safe harbor provisions.
Take for example, Art 25 of EU Data Protection Directive which states that “the transfer to a 3rd party country, of personal data which are undergoing processing, or are intended for processing after transfer, may take place only if the 3rd party country in question ensures an adequate level of protection. The provisions under the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 is not the same as above.
Conclusion
With proper understanding and consultation, it is hope that the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 will close the gap and accelerate Malaysia towards “Legal Appreciation and Transparency” by 2020 along the transformation programming tracks.
……………..
Jeong Chun Phuoc
Expert Consultant at a major law firm and a pioneer advocate in Competitive Legal Intelligence(CLI)
and a Reader in Syariah Competitive Legal Intelligence(sCLI)
He can be reached at [email protected]
**The above professional analysis is the writer’s personal view and in no way represent the view/position of the research institutes/thinktanks/organisations to which he is currently attached to.