Malaysia: Signed Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2024 including cross-border data transfer regulation

On 9 October 2024, the Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Bill was signed into law. The Act removes the white-list regime for cross-border data transfers and allows data controllers to transfer data to jurisdictions that provide a similar level of protection to the one provided within the country. Data controllers are required to conduct an impact assessment to identify the protections granted. The Act will come into effect on a date set by the Minister via a Gazette notification, with the option for different provisions to take effect on different dates.