The Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (“PDPA”) has
not been amended since it was first enacted in 2012, with its Data
Protection Provisions and its Do Not Call (“DNC”)
Provisions coming into effect on 2 January 2014 and 2 July 2014
respectively.
With accelerating growth in data-centric technologies such as
Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and gig economy, there
is an exponential increase in the volume of personal data
generated, collected and processed around the world and in
Singapore. The new Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Bill 2020
just passed on 2 November 2020 seeks to strengthen the
accountability of organisations, to recalibrate the balance between
individual's consent and organisational accountability to
harness data for appropriate and legitimate purposes, to grant
greater consumer autonomy over their own personal data, and to
strengthen the effectiveness of enforcement efforts by the Personal
Data Protection Commission (“PDPC”).