Saturday, December 19, 2009

Bill to address concerns over personal information - Malaysia Star


THE people’s concerns over how their personal data are processed and stored during commercial transactions will be addressed in a new Bill, which was tabled in Parliament.

Once passed, it will prevent such data from falling into the wrong hands and safeguard the rights of individuals.

Users of such data will be required to register themselves under the Personal Data Protection Bill, which will regulate the processing of the personal data of individuals involved in commercial transactions and also to protect such information.

The Bill was tabled by Deputy Infor­m­ation, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum.

Under the Act, a Personal Data Prot­ection Commissioner will be appointed and the person will be advised by a Personal Data Advisory Commit-tee.

An appeals tribunal will also be established to allow the people to submit their complaints if they were unhappy with the management of their data.

A register of data user forums and a register of codes of practice will also be established under the Act, where users who failed to comply with a code of practice can be fined up to RM100,000 or jailed for a year, or both.

A heavier penalty awaits data users if they were found to have contravened provisions in the Bill, where they can be fined a maximum of RM200,000 or jailed for two years, or both.

The Bill seeks to prevent the occurrences of people losing their money through credit card fraud, customer-privacy infringements and data theft.
 
Source: The Star

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