April

The Malaysian government has the entry into force date of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2010. The Act will enter into force on 15 November 2013 and will introduce an omnibus privacy regime in Malaysia for the first time. The publication of the PDPA is accompanied by a number of regulations and orders that clarify some of its provisions.

The PDPA was passed by the Malaysian Parliament in May 2010, and received Royal Assent in June 2010, however its entry into force had been delayed. "The PDPA will apply to any person who processes or has control over the processing of any personal data, known as a data user,” said Jillian Chia, Senior Associate at Skrine. “It is important to note that 'processing' is defined widely under the PDPA to cover a wide range of activities, including using, disseminating, collecting, recording and|or storing personal data. Furthermore, only individuals are referred to as 'data subjects' under the PDPA."

The PDPA introduces, among other things, seven data protection principles which data users must comply with. Violation of any of these principles will result in a fine of up to 300,000 ringgit (approximately 74,485€) and|or up to three years' imprisonment. "Where a data user has collected personal data before the date of coming into operation of the PDPA, such users will have three months to comply," said Chia.

China’ top prosecuting body, the Supreme People's Procuratorate has vowed to improve the online database of people convicted of bribery to better combat corruption. Song Hansong, director of the job-related crime department, said prosecutors will promote the use of the blacklist system at the central level this year and launch a job-related criminal record archive.

It also plans to improve the bribery database to support batch queries and online reservations for inquiries in a bid to make public inquiries more convenient, Song said. Launched in February 2012, the database makes names of those convicted of taking bribes available across the country for public inquiry. Anyone found on the list will likely be disqualified for bidding on government projects and companies may even be forbidden from operating.

With one million of its new high-tech drivers' licenses in use, the B.C. government is preparing to use them for access to medical records, applying for student loans and a range of other uses.

The new driver's license was introduced a year ago, with a digital chip that replaces the existing medical CareCard system, which had run out of control. The health ministry estimated that there were more than nine million CareCards in circulation, about twice as many as there are residents of B.C. Andrew Wilkinson, minister of technology, innovation and citizens' services, released results of a public consultation on the new cards.

With digital security similar to bank cards, he said the public appears prepared to use them to apply for prescription renewals, birth, death and marriage certificates, voter registration and criminal records checks. Secure online access to such government services would require passwords to be issued, "robust" computer programs to be completed and at least half of B.C. residents to have the new cards, Wilkinson said. They are being issued as current drivers' licenses expire, and the new services could be available by the end of 2015.