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Malaysia ranks bottom five in privacy protection among 20 countries surveyed

Malaysia ranks bottom five in privacy protection among 20 countries surveyed

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Malaysia came in the bottom five in terms of privacy protection among 20 non-EU countries surveyed by Comparitech. With a score of 2.6 out of five, Malaysia ranked the same as Thailand in the fourth and fifth places, with India (2.4), Russia (2.1), and China (1.8) ahead.

Overall, Malaysia was classified into the "some safeguards but weakened protections" category. It scored below average in privacy protection for all 14 categories assessed: constitutional protection; statutory protection; privacy enforcement; identity cards and biometrics; data sharing; visual surveillance; communication interception; workplace monitoring; government access to data; communications data retention; surveillance of movement, finances, and medical data; border issues; leadership; democratic safeguards.

According to the report, the introduction of the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 did make some improvements to Malaysia’s data privacy, but it needs updating to better protect all types of data. At present, it only protects the personal data of a data subject. As technology advances, there is also a need for laws to encompass identity cards and biometrics, an area which Malaysia has a "systemic failure to uphold safeguards" in.

Currently, Malaysia has few laws surrounding the use of face recognition technology, said Comparitech. This is despite the fact that face recognition technology has been on the rise with Grab Malaysia teaming up with the Ministry of Transport to improve driver safety and provide safeguards against crimes.

Malaysia also has a national ID card (MyKad) that is compulsory from the age of 12 and contains biometrics (thumbprints). It also stores bank details, certain health information, can be used to make purchases, and stores data for up to 20 years. For children up to the age of 12, MyKid carries parents’ religion details, birth data, health information, and education data.

Another area where a systemic failure to uphold safeguards is detected is in visual surveillance. Despite the prevalence of CCTV in Malaysia and there are few safeguards in place. This include the introduction of a CCTV Guide to enforce a few more protections and notify people about CCTV monitoring.

On the data sharing front, written consent is required in Malaysia for data processing in most cases, but the government has a platform (MyGDX), which facilitates intergovernmental agency data sharing. In certain situations, companies are required to hand over information to the government.

Comparitech, which assessed privacy protection and the state of surveillance in 47 countries, revealed that only five countries have adequate privacy safeguards and all of them are in Europe. The region is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation laws.

[A+M's PR Asia will come to Malaysia this November, gathering together some of the finest minds in industry to explore the exciting and developing world of digital PR. Join us for a series of exclusive case studies, interactive and thought-provoking discussions at PR Asia on 20 November in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Register now.]

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