KUALA LUMPUR: The proposal to make the government an entity subject to legal action in court in the event of personal data leaks requires a thorough legislative impact assessment, said Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo.
He said other countries have different approaches to addressing the issue, whether by amending the existing laws or formulating new legislation.
“We are in the process of considering these matters, and I hope a decision can be made and be brought to the Cabinet soon,” he said.
He said this when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address on behalf of the Digital Ministry as a response to the proposal put forward by Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng (BN-Tanjung Piai) in Dewan Rakyat today.
Gobind said his ministry, through the Personal Data Protection Commissioner’s Office, received complaints and reports of personal data leaks from other agencies, including the Royal Malaysia Police, Bank Negara Malaysia, and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
He said all complaints have been investigated based on the seven principles of personal data protection and the subsidiary legislation in force.
He said the ministry is also implementing workflow related to the proposed amendments to the Personal Data Protection 2010 (Act 709) to enhance personal data security.
“The federal and state governments are joining hands to develop their respective cybersecurity policies to ensure that the government’s ICT systems are safeguarded from hacking,” he said.
Meanwhile, he mentioned that Cyber99, the cybersecurity incident response centre, recorded a significant drop in the number of cyber security incidents to 3,232 cases last year from 7,192 cases in 2022, adding that the centre recorded 4,194 cases in 2020, which went up to 5,575 in 2021.
“Cybersecurity Malaysia enhances the nation’s cybersecurity by providing cybersecurity ecosystem protection services to tackle attacks and threats such as cybercrime and scams,” he added. – Bernama
