Details on Personal Data Protection Act 2010 available in here.
Wong King Wei
Su Chua Phin
KUCHING: The Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2010 will cut down digital harassment if not wipe it out altogether, said lawyer of 15 years, Su Chua Phin.
Enforced last November, the Act would protect the information and privacy of consumers and citizens as a whole while guaranteeing peace of mind, he said.
“It is good and timely. How many times have we received unwanted SMSes, emails and calls? Somehow, you feel uneasy about how much information they have about us when they send us promotional materials.
“I think it is tantamount to digital harassment, and hope this act will put an end to, or at least reduce it,” he said when contacted here yesterday.
He was asked to comment on PDPA 2010, which required data users in the country to register with the Personal Data Protection Department to comply with the principles under the act.
Su was unable to give a professional view as he has yet to obtain a copy of the act.
He said with the law in place, violation of personal data or its processing would be an offence, and the authorities would act if the report filed warranted it.
On enforcement, Su said: “If they are serious in putting it into law, then the government must be serious in putting it into force, otherwise there is no point putting it into law.”
Meanwhile, state DAP Youth chief Wong King Wei said the act was new in Malaysia as prior to this enactment, all personal data were not protected.
He said under the act, data users or holders could not release any information to anyone without the consent of the data subject under the act.
“Before this, the holder can release information without any hindrance. The law now imposes the duty by way of criminal offence, which means the police have to investigate,” said the Padungan assemblyman.
Wong, who is also a lawyer by profession, said he had just received a material on the act. It requires time for him to study the book titled ‘Personal Data Protection — Cases and Commentary with Applied Syari’ah Principles’.
An excerpt read: ‘Data users must comply with the seven principles enshrined in the PDPA 2010. Data users, unless exempted under the PDPA 2010, who contravene any of the Personal Data Protection Principles of the PDPA 2010 commit an offence.’
The book also points out that not all countries have enacted similar PDPA Acts. And countries which have enacted some form of personal data protection do not share the same Section 5(2) offence, which carries a fine not exceeding RM300,000 or jail term not more than two years or both.
The severity of a Section 5(2) offence differs from one jurisdiction to another and will not affect the Economic Gearing and Financial Liability Impact (EGFLi) Factor.
Wong admitted that citizens in the country enjoy good laws but suffer from poor enforcement. He said good laws must be supplemented by efficient and impartial enforcement.
On the police probe, he believed special skills need not be expected of the men in blue, given that investigation on infringement of personal data was no different from the usual investigative tasks.
“It is like normal investigation which needs tracing. It means the police have to trace where the source of information comes from.”
Last November, Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said an estimated 25,000 institutions in the country were categorised as data users and expected to register with the Personal Data Protection Department by Feb 15 this year.
He revealed that Malaysia is the first nation among its Asean counterparts to enforce such an act to ensure information security, network reliability and integrity of data protection in the country.
The department defines data users as those processing personal data or have control over such data, or authorise the processing of personal data.
Sectors classified as data users include communication, banking and financial institutions, insurance, health, tourism, hospitality, transport, education, direct selling, services, real estate and utilities.