Workplace privacy in Malaysia: A legal comparison

• Main Authors: Ayub, Zainal Amin, Mohamed Yusoff, Zuryati
• Other Authors: Yahya, Khulida Kirana
• Format: Book Section
• Language: English
• Published: Penerbit Universiti Utara Malaysia 2008
• Subjects: HD Industries. Land use. Labor; K Law (General)
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/4304/1/ZaI.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/4304/; http://lintas.uum.edu.my:8080/elmu/index.jsp?module=webopac-l&action=fullDisplayRetriever.jsp&szMaterialNo=0000303950

The rapid growth of the information and communication technology has made it possible for everyone to search information, gain knowledge, and generate eficiency in their work in such a way that we never dreamed of a decade ago.Another shift has occurred in the digital world where it reflects a growing interest in new surveillance technologies, be it relating to personal or company's data. This interest is based on various reasons; it enables the companies to monitor work performance, maintain employees' discipline and productivity, and introduce e-commerce transaction in the company. Those new technologies include video surveillance, smart card, face recognition, and biometrics. Many countries are also developing new identification and authentication systems, such as smart cards and digital identification cards. Austria is promoting a new social security smart card; Singapore also created "SingPass' and Malaysia has established "Mykad", a universal purpose ID card. These collections of data have significant importance regarding the issues of its security and individual privacy. Furthermore, the Malaysian Federal Constitution does not specifically recognise privacy as one of the fundamental rights and the Personal Data Protection Bill is yet to be enforced. As such, this paper will discuss the extent of protection available to the workers relating to their privacy under related laws in Malaysia.