The Australian Privacy Act 1988: Lesson to Be Learned

Abstract

Privacy is a fundamental human right recognized either explicitly or implicitly all around the world constitution. However, these privacy rights are being eroded by advanced technologies. The efficiency of the Australian Privacy Act 1988 being a non-European Union state in governing the protection of personal data is remarkable. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on how the Australian Privacy Act 1988 can be used as a benchmark for the Malaysian Personal Data Protection Act 2010. Thus, this paper employs a doctrinal qualitative method to best explore the ideas and concepts within the literature available regarding the legislation for the protection of personal data. It suggests that there are improvements to be made for the Malaysian Personal Data Protection Act 2010 to be adequate.