PUTRAJAYA: Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli has reaffirmed that the national Central Database System (Padu) operates independently of the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA).
Reiterating this stance, he underscored that data within government agencies is safeguarded by their respective acts and dismissed suggestions to suspend the system until comprehensive protection measures are in place.
This statement follows Lawyers for Liberty (LFL)'s claim that government exemption from PDPA liability could disadvantage the public, exposing them to potential loss and harm in the event of data security issues.
While acknowledging the PDPA's role in protecting public data, Rafizi pointed out loopholes in the law that could impact Padu's functionality.
"As we speak, you (public) have vast amounts of data in government databases. If we argue that without PDPA applying to this data, the government cannot proceed with any process involving the public.
"This implies that all government agencies must cease operations because their data is not covered under PDPA," he said during a press conference today.
Rafizi urged advocacy groups, such as LFL, to deepen their understanding of the act before criticising the system.
"I was hoping LFL would first understand (the difference) between (data under) PDPA and publicly available data.
"Each of these (government) agencies are covered by their own regulations on data. If it's JPJ (road transport department) data, (then) data privacy falls under the Act that governs them.
"I would have thought that a 'so-called' lawyer group would have understood that."
Earlier, LFL called on the government to suspend the Padu system until amendments are made to the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2010.
said the Section 3(1) of the PDPA currently exempts the government from its enforcement, implying that data collected by Padu could be disseminated or used by the government beyond the declared targeted purposes.
