Personal Data Protection and Privacy Law in Malaysia

Abstract

Personal data protection is increasingly gaining its popularity and legal recognition in many jurisdictions around the world including Malaysia. In June 2010, the Malaysian Parliament finally enacted the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (‘PDPA’), after a long wait of more than 10 years since the late 1990s. The PDPA will have significant impacts on how personal data is processed by organisations and business entities. In the first part of this chapter, the author explains the rationale for having a personal data protection law in Malaysia, and makes a conclusion as to whether the PDPA has addressed most of the rationale cited in this chapter.