PUTRAJAYA is hopeful it can table the amended Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Act 709) in the upcoming parliamentary session in October, Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa said today. 

Annuar (Ketereh-BN) said that the ministry is waiting for the final draft of the amendment, which was submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on June 28.

“As soon as we receive the feedback or the final draft from the AGC, a memorandum will be immediately prepared to the cabinet. The Communications and Multimedia Ministry is committed to present the proposed amendment to Act 709 in the upcoming parliamentary session, scheduled in October,” Annuar said in a parliamentary reply today during the ministers’ question time. 

He was responding to Shaharizukirnain Abd Kadir (Setiu-PN), who asked about the ministry’s plans to amend several clauses in Act 709 in fighting against cybercrimes that had caused nearly 100 million cases of data breach.

Annuar today confirmed there have been more than 120 million cases of personal data breaches. 

Among others, Annuar said that the proposed amendments included obligations to all data users to appoint a data protection officer and introduction of data breach notification that obligates all data users to report data leaks to the Personal Data Protection Department within 72 hours. 

Responding to additional questions from Fahmi Fadzil (Lembah Pantai-PH), who asked on the steps taken by the government to ensure that the data is well protected and ways to avoid public from becoming scam victims, the Ketereh MP said that the ministry is working on building a platform that enables public to check details of the numbers. 

He said that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is currently working with the telecommunication companies on this. 

“Apart from advocacy, we are planning to have a platform where the public, when they receive dubious calls, can directly refer and check the validity of the number, whether it is from a legitimate line holder.

“This requires us to work with all telecommunication service providers to ensure we have one depository, where there are details of all legitimate account holders. 

“This is currently being followed up by the ministry, in particular the MCMC,” he said.

Annuar assured that the ministry is taking more safety measures to protect personal data, aside from just amending Act 709. – August 4, 2022.