Amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA 2010) were tabled for the first reading in Parliament on July 10.
The amendments, among others, aim to increase penalties from RM300,000 to RM1 million for offences committed by data controllers or data processors who violate personal data protection principles.
The Bill, tabled by Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo, aims to amend Section 5 of the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Act 709). Paragraph 5(b) aims to increase the penalties for offences committed by data controllers or data processors who violate the Personal Data Protection Principles.
The amendments will also see the creation of a new Section 43A on rights to portability, which allows an individual to request the data controller to transfer personal data to the data officer of their choice.
Gobind, at a press conference after tabling the Bill, said the government viewed data breaches and leaks seriously. The Personal Data Protection Commissioner received 779 complaints of data breaches and abuses in 2023. From January to June this year, the commissioner received 288 complaints.
“This amendment is intended to ensure that no data will be used without the consent of the data owner, and to prevent the misuse of data while using existing digital platforms, as well as those that will be created in the future, in line with the latest developments,” Gobind said.
On the same day in Parliament, Gobind shared that investments in the Malaysian digital content sector rose from RM550 million in 2022 to RM1.6 billion in 2023. He said this resulted in the creation of over 1,900 high-paying jobs in the sector, last year.
Malaysia has successfully attracted investments from several large-scale studios over the years. They included Electronic Arts/Codemasters (in 2011), Streamline Studios (2015), Bandai Namco (2017), PlayStation Studios (2019), Larian Studios (2019), and Virtuous (2022).
Gobind added that Malaysia’s digital creative industry recorded exports worth RM1 billion across 120 markets in 2022, and that the sector was growing at a rate of eight per cent annually.
The Digital Content Creators Challenge programme is one of the initiatives taken by the Digital Ministry to support the nation’s game developers. The programme has helped 135 start-up/indie digital game companies, providing them with a digital content grant.
“To create more game developers among Malaysians, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation plans to also implement the Digital Creator Incubation programme,” he said.
On July 9, Gobind met representatives from the Rawang-based, non-profit group, Independent Living & Training Centre. They discussed ways to empower persons with disabilities (PWDs), especially in the digital era. The organisation supports and provides training courses to enable PWDs to live and work independently.
On July 11, Gobind met representatives from the Malaysian Bar and discussed several aspects and challenges pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI). He said the conversation highlighted the importance of creating a balanced and effective regulatory framework to govern the nation’s AI development. Gobind added that this collaborative effort was a step in ensuring the ethical and lawful implementation of AI in the various sectors.
Gobind attended the 3rd Malaysian Banking Conference 2024 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. There, he spoke about the ministry’s readiness to propel Malaysia’s banking sector forward via AI, generative AI, and quantum computing.
Meanwhile, JP Morgan has upgraded Malaysia’s rating from underweight to neutral after almost six years. The multinational finance company credited the country’s policy reforms, data centre investments and infrastructure build-up.
The company’s head of Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan/China), Rajiv Batra, told CNBC on July 10, that Malaysia’s rapid pace of progress was impressive with a 4.2 per cent gross domestic product growth in the first quarter of 2024.
He added besides having secured a series of data centre investments, Malaysia is also making strides in green energy and the electric vehicle sector.
