The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views or policies of the Asian Development Bank

Institute (ADBI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ADBI does not guarantee the accuracy of
the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with
ADB official terms.

Securing the digital economy - Trust, Privacy and

Transparency

Professor Abu Bakar Munir

Faculty of Law, University of Malaya
Malaysia

Understanding the Digital Economy: What Is It and How Can It Transform Asia?
21-22 February 2018
New Delhi, India
 Publications on ICT Law and Data Protection Law

Cyber Law: Policies Privacy and Internet Banking: Law Information &
and Challenges Data Protection and Practice Communication
Butterworths Asia Sweet & Maxwell LexisNexis UK Technology Law
(1999) (2002) z (2004) Legal & Regulatory
Challenges
Thomson Reuters
(2010)

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 Cont…

Personal Data Protection in Data Protection Law In Data Protection Law in

Malaysia Singapore Asia
Sweet & Maxwell (2010) Singapore Academy of Law (2014) Sweet & Maxwell Hong
Kong (2014)

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 Second Edition
(February 2018)

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 Recent speaking engagements (invitations)
• Data Protection Regulation in Asia; A Comparative Analysis, NUS, Singapore, 9 February 2018
• Invited Guest Lecture, Bangor Law, University of Bangor, United Kingdom, 25 January 2018.
• Asia - Europe Dialogue on Growing the Digital Economy, Washington, D.C, 6-7 November.
• International Conference on Law and Governance in Global Context (LGGC), University of
Indonesia, Jakarta, 1-2 November 2017.
• Seminar on “Big Data: Dealing with the New Oil in the Digital Economy, University of Atmajaya,
Jakarta, 31 October 2017.
• International Institute of Communications Annual Conference, Brussels, 10-12 October 2017.
• UN Conference, Asian Perspectives for Privacy as a Global Human Right, University of Hong
Kong, 29-30 September 2017.
• 39th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners (“ICDPPC”),
Shang-ri La Hong Kong, 28-29 September 2017
• Asian Privacy Scholars Network International Conference, University of Hong Kong, 27
September 2017.
• International Seminar on Academic Network on Competition Policy, Building Knowledge Hub
and Regional Expertise Towards the Harmonisation of Competition Policy in East Asian Region,
Bali, 6 September 2017.
• University of Trisakti Summer Programme, Faculty of Law, University of Trisakti, Jakarta,
Indonesia, 14 August 2017.
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 Recent developments

Australia launched Digital India's Supreme Court

Economy Strategy Recognises The Right to
Privacy

USA Approves First Self Drive Act

China enacted Cybersecurity law

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To become the largest digital economy in
Southeast Asia by 2020.

Vietnam in the midst of finalising its Law on

Cybersecurity
The importance of Trust

 Eighty-three percent of respondents to the Accenture Technology Vision 2016 Survey agreed
that trust is the cornerstone of the digital economy.
(Accenture 2017)

 Personal data is precious and priceless – protect it!

(Internet Society 2016)

 A global survey of 16,000 online consumers across twenty countries found that 74 % were
concerned about how companies use information about them collected online
(UNCTAD 2016)

 Research shows that concerns about personal data use and/or misuse are a central driver of
trust in online market
(UNCTAD 2016)

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Digital Economy: Data and Trust
 Eighty-three percent of respondents to the Accenture Technology Vision 2016 Survey agreed
that trust is the cornerstone of the digital economy.
(Accenture 2017)

 Data is the new oil

(World Economic Forum 2011)

 Personal data is precious and priceless – protect it!

(Internet Society 2016)

 A global survey of 16,000 online consumers across twenty countries found that 74 % were
concerned about how companies use information about them collected online
(UNCTAD 2016)

 Research shows that concerns about personal data use and/or misuse are a central driver of
trust in online market
(UNCTAD 2016)
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Cont……..

 Individual privacy and security increasingly being threatened by the actions of

malicious individuals and also by unthinking, opportunistic or unprincipled corporate
and government activities
(Global commission on Internet Governance 2016)

 Erosion of trusts in the Internet due to indiscriminate and non-transparent use of data
(Global commission on Internet Governance 2016)

 Users, worldwide, are not confident that their personal data are protected. Two in
three users thought people who go on the Internet put their privacy at risk
(World Economic Forum 2013)

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 Data Protection Law is Becoming More Important

 United Nations in 2015 appointed a Special Rapporteur on the Right to

Privacy
 United Nations General Assembly in 2013 adopted a Resolution on the Right
to Privacy in Digital Age
 Data protection has been included in several international trade agreements
 Data protection regulation has been considered in several high profile court
cases in relation to surveillance issues
 More and more countries are enacting new data protection laws or
amending existing ones
 US – EU have agreed on the Privacy Shield
 EU has adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to replace
the Data Protection Directive (DPD)

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International/ Regional Instruments

 OECD Guidelines 1980

 Council of Europe Convention 1985
 APEC Privacy Framework 1995
 EU Data Protection Directive 2004
 EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016

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How privacy laws ensure trust and transparency

 Data protection principles

 Empowering data subjects
 Redress
 Independent enforcement authority
 Penalties for non-compliance

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Hong Kong

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abmunir@um.edu.my
Office +60379676526 Mobile +60122185242
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