The Adequacy of Data Protection Laws in Protecting Personal Data in Malaysia

  • Nurkhairina Binti Noor Sureani Faculty of Law, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Atikah Shahira Binti Awis Qurni Faculty of Law, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Ayman Haziqah Binti Azman Faculty of Law, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Mohd Bahrin Bin Othman Faculty of Law, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Hariz Sufi Bin Zahari Faculty of Law, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
Keywords: personal data, data protection, data privacy, Personal Data Protection Act 2010

Abstract

With the burgeoning technology, Malaysia has seen a staggering number of data breaches and data leaks within this past decade alone, with no signs of the trend decreasing. This has raised questions on whether the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA) adequately protects the personal data of Malaysians. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, data has been collected on a larger scale than before, with more frequent data leaks occurring. Hence, this study aims to analyse the adequacy of the PDPA by benchmarking it to the United Kingdom’s (UK) Data Protection Act 2018, which have seen a decrease in data breaches since the implementation of the new legislation. In this context, personal data refers to information processed or recorded that relates directly or indirectly to a data subject, who may be identified from the information and may include sensitive personal data. The study uses a doctrinal analysis methodology to best explore the ideas and concepts within the literature available regarding the protection of personal data. The study also employs a comparative analysis methodology by comparing the scope and application of Malaysian and UK legislation for benchmarking. The findings suggest that there are improvements to be made for the PDPA to be adequate.

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Published
2021-10-10
How to Cite
Noor Sureani, N., Awis Qurni, A. S., Azman, A. H., Othman, M. B. and Zahari, H. S. (2021) “The Adequacy of Data Protection Laws in Protecting Personal Data in Malaysia”, Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 6(10), pp. 488 - 495. doi: 10.47405/mjssh.v6i10.1087.
Section
Articles

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