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On 4 August 2022, the Consumer Credit Oversight Board Task Force issued the first of a two-part consultation paper to the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) to obtain feedback from interested parties and members of the public on the proposed enactment of the CCA.
The Task Force has now issued the second public consultation paper. The public consultation period on the second paper will close on 15 May 2023.
The feedback from the consultation paper will be considered ahead of the anticipated CCA being passed into law by the end of 2023.

The Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022 passed by the Dewan Negara on 11 August 2022. On 28 March 2023, several provisions of the Act came into effect, and it is anticipated that the rest of the Act will come into effect in stages. This is a positive development to be lauded, considering that it is the first to many steps in having an anti-sexual harassment legislation in Malaysia, to increase the prevention and awareness of sexual harassment (in addition to the sexual harassment provisions in the Employment Act).

On 24 February 2023, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim re-tabled the Malaysian Budget 2023 themed “Building Malaysia Madani.” The MADANI Budget is focused on addressing the current economic challenges, inspiring confidence with institutional and governance reforms and facilitating social justice by reducing inequality.

In brief
Change may be upon the horizon for data protection in Malaysia. An effort which started with a public consultation exercise in 2020 to align the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (“PDPA”) with other data protection laws across the globe, will hopefully, translate into law in 2023 under the new Minister of Communications and Digital.

In this alert, we look back at the proposed changes to the PDPA, the latest developments under the new administration so far and what to expect in the days ahead.

In depth
A look at the recent past
The public consultation paper on the review of the PDPA issued by the Personal Data Protection Department (“JPDP”) in 2020 had identified 22 proposed improvements to the PDPA. In 2022, the then Communications and Multimedia Minister had indicated that certain amendments to the PDPA was due to be tabled with the Malaysian Parliament for approval in October 2022. Some of these include:

The requirement for data users to appoint a data protection officer
Mandatory data breach notification
Data processors being obligated to comply with the security principle under the PDPA
Introduction of data portability
Introduction of blacklisted countries such that transfers of personal data to these countries will be prohibited
(collectively, the “2022 Proposals”).

The dissolution of the Malaysian Parliament on 10 October 2022 and subsequent general election, put this on hold.

Developments in the last 90 days
On 2 December 2022, Fahmi Fadzil became the new Minister of Communications and Digital (“Minister”), with oversight of the JPDP. There has been substantial developments in this space since then, and which we highlight in more detail below.

Introduction of the General Code of Practice of Personal Data Protection (“General CoP”)

The General CoP was issued by the Personal Data Protection Commissioner (“Commissioner”) and took effect from 15 December 2022. The General CoP (which appears to apply to selected classes of data users) introduces new legal requirements to be complied with, including additional mandatory information for inclusion into personal data protection notices, and further seeks to provide best practice recommendations with respect to the implementation of principles under the PDPA and its subsidiary legislation. More information on the General CoP can be found in our previous alert.

Proposed Upgrades to the JPDP and New Cybersecurity Commission

The Minister had announced his plans of turning the JPDP into a statutory department to ensure that it has sufficient resources to tackle among others, personal data leaks and execute its functions more effectively. At present, the JPDP is merely a government department under the Ministry of Communications and Digital (“Ministry”).

There are also plans to establish a Malaysian Cyber Security Commission as a move to strengthen cyber security, with the Ministry working together with related agencies such as CyberSecurity Malaysia to set up such a commission. This proposal is currently still at preliminary stages but may be tabled with the Malaysian Parliament in June 2023.

MoU between Malaysia and Singapore on cooperation in personal data protection, cybersecurity and digital economy

In January 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Singapore and Malaysia to co-operate on areas of personal data protection, cybersecurity and digital economy. As part of this MoU, the countries agreed to:

An exchange of knowledge and expertise on personal data protection policies and regulations (including monitoring and reduction of cybersecurity incidents)
Facilitate the promotion of cross-border data flows (including to develop and implement the Asean Cross-Border Data Flow Mechanism under the Asean Framework on Digital Data Governance).
Amendments to the PDPA: Redux
These latest developments all provide an indication that the protection of personal data is a key focus of the Minister. Particularly, the Minister had during an interview with a local radio station highlighted that only about 20 companies had been fined for data breaches in the past six years, at RM 24,000 each on average. Lamenting this, the Minister opined on the need to review the laws related to data protection given that data is a national treasure.

Accordingly, the Minister announced that the JPDP is seeking to improve on the 2022 Proposals before tabling a draft bill to amend the PDPA. In addition to the likely retention of the 2022 Proposals, some of the proposed improvements include increasing the amount of fines and penalties against data users found to be misusing data. Timeline wise, the Minister intends to present a draft amendment bill to the PDPA, at the Malaysian Parliament before the end of 2023.

Concluding remarks
With the increasing prevalence of data breaches in Malaysia, the proposals to have an empowered JPDP (with the ability to impose higher fines), alongside a more robust PDPA framework (which requires mandatory data breach notifications), is welcomed. All organisations who process personal data may therefore wish to take pro-active steps to, assess, review and update their existing data processing policies, systems, procedures and processes, against these proposals in anticipation of it being rolled-out in the near future.

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This client alert was issued by Wong & Partners, a member firm of Baker McKenzie International, a global law firm with member law firms around the world. In accordance with the common terminology used in professional service organizations, reference to a “partner” means a person who is a partner or equivalent in such a law firm. Similarly, reference to an “office” means an office of any such law firm. This may qualify as “Attorney Advertising” requiring notice in some jurisdictions. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

On 24 February 2023, Malaysia’s Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim unveiled the Malaysian Budget 2023, themed “Building Malaysia Madani.” This is the first budget introduced by the new Unity Government, and at RM388.1 billion, it is the largest expansionary budget in the country’s history. The MADANI budget is a testament to the Government’s commitment to a reform agenda that aims to drive economic recovery, boost tax revenue, promote good governance, and provide care for the people.

The General Code of Practice of Personal Data Protection introduces new legal requirements to be complied with by data users caught within its ambit. It also seeks to provide best practice recommendations with respect to the implementation of principles under the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 and its subsidiary legislation.
Some of the new legal requirements include providing additional mandatory information in a personal data protection notice, complying with any data subjects’ written request not to process their personal data for direct marketing within reasonable time, maintaining a personal data system, and establishing a PDPA compliance framework.

In May 2022, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) was launched between Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US and Vietnam. On account of its specified focus on labor standards and issues, IPEF is likely to have an ongoing impact on labor regulations and trends among partner countries, including Vietnam.

Malaysia recently launched the Corporate Green Power Programme (CGPP), a renewable energy initiative that allows corporate consumers to virtually purchase solar energy from solar developers. This is achieved through the use of virtual power purchase agreements, or Corporate Green Power Agreement. This alert explains the mechanism of CGPP and sets out the potential investment opportunities and benefits to corporate consumers, particularly those with plants and factories that have high energy usage.

The interim chairman of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission announced that MCMC is undertaking a review of the current online content regulation and framework. This was shared following recent publication of online content deemed to be harmful to national security and harmony. He also noted that countries in the region such as Indonesia, Singapore and Australia have introduced direct regulatory oversight on social media service providers, holding them to greater accountability and responsibility when managing harmful content.