Fahmi hopes that the draft amendment to Act 709 will be presented in Parliament this year
PDPA amendments on data breach to be tabled in Parliament by year-end: Fahmi
Digital and communications minister says updates include mandatory notification from companies
According to Fahmi, the act will also examine the mandatory notification of data holder companies or users to JPDP in the event of a leak.
KUALA LUMPUR: The draft amendment to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Act 709) in an effort to curb the leakage of user data is expected to be tabled in Parliament before the end of this year.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said his party, including the Personal Data Protection Department (JPDP), was examining some improvements to the government’s previous draft amendments, before being submitted to the Attorney General’s Department.
“We are currently examining some additions regarding new aspects that can be included as well as the applicability of this act,” he told Bernama.
Fahmi said the amendment to the act will also look into the mandatory notification of data holder companies or users to the JPDP in the event of a leak.
In addition, the amount of fines against data user companies found to be misusing data should also be increased to the maximum level, he said.
He also expressed his disappointment because since 2017, the penalty imposed on about 25 companies involved in data leakage was only RM24,000 per company on average,
“It is a very sad figure, while the leaked or leaked data may be thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, this is the amount of fines 15 years ago and now it should no longer be appropriate,” he said.
Meanwhile, his party is also planning to upgrade JPDP into a statutory body so that the department has more resources to combat the issue of personal data leakage.
“If we want to develop the digital economy, we cannot rely on one body alone, that body (JPDP) should be improved so that it has more workers from the enforcement aspect and so on,” he said.
Touching on the issue of cyber fraud (cyber scam), Fahmi said his ministry is always looking for ways to curb the increasingly widespread crime, including discussions with telecommunication service providers.
It includes a mechanism to block calls from abroad that intend to commit fraud and such measures have been implemented in some developed countries.
Meanwhile, measures to increase digital literacy among users will also continue to be implemented to raise public awareness of cyber fraud.
“According to the commercial crime department there are more than 14 types of cyber fraud and they (scammers) are always looking for other ways if we curb them, we through the Information Department will spread as much information as possible to make the public aware of this scam (fraud),” he said.
Fahmi said that among other things, he carried out cooperation with the community at the grassroots such as mosque communities and other houses of worship, neighboring units and schools.
