Minister Gobind Singh Deo said the review would be premised on the need for effective and efficient implementation of the PDPA, as well as to streamline international requirements concerning personal data protection. This includes the many key points of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

“Malaysia has the PDPA which was formulated in 2010, but after nine years, there have been many new developments. It is important for the existing law to be amended to ensure that we are up-to-date with the current developments.

“There is no time frame. We have been reviewing the PDPA since last year but it is still ongoing, and I hope that we will be able to formulate a new one or bring a proposed amendment to the Parliament,” he told reporters after officiating a conference on the impact of EU-GDPR in Malaysia and non-EU countries here today.

In his keynote address earlier, Gobind said the implementation of the EU’s GDPR would require comprehensive changes in business practices for companies that have yet to implement a comparable level of privacy law on data protection.

As such, he said, multinational companies and government-linked companies with business dealings in the EU should take the necessary steps to comply with the GDPR.

“As for industry players, especially data users who have made preparations with regard to the PDPA, they are well positioned to embrace the GDPR,” he said.

The two-day conference, which began today, is organised by GRM Training Sdn Bhd in collaboration with Iconic Training Solutions.

It provides an understanding of new and wide-reaching requirements from the GDPR and rules relevant for businesses, as well as employees’ responsibilities for protecting personal information.