ASEAN Data Privacy Developments 2014-15

Abstract

From 2010 to early 2014 (from the enactment of Malaysia’s law, to when parts of Singapore’s law came into force), the countries of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) were one of the world’s most active regions for data privacy developments. From May 2014 to May 2015, the pace of developments cooled somewhat, but was still significant in Singapore (particularly data exports), Thailand (new Bills from the junta) and Vietnam (detailed enforcement regulations). This article analyses developments for the year prior to April 2015 in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei. There were no significant privacy-related developments during that period in the other four ASEAN states (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and candidate member Timor Leste).

Keywords: privacy, data protection, ASEAN, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei