MCMC to regulate cloud services with 'light touch'

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said it will use a “light touch” approach to regulate cloud services in Malaysia from Jan 1 next year in order to provide data protection to users and related agencies.

The MCMC said there were concerns over data security after taking into account the increasing use of cloud services in the daily lives of Malaysians.

“This regulatory approach will ensure cloud service providers maintain a high level of data security, data privacy, data protection and user data flow,” the commission said in a statement today.

The commission said it will use the licensing method to regulate cloud services as it has the flexibility to issue technical standards that could be produced with industry players.

“The imposition of any conditions to comply with such standards can only be achieved through a licensing approach. This will ensure best practices are used by cloud service providers,” MCMC said.

According to MCMC, said it is adopting a no worse off policy approach in formulating appropriate licensing methods for cloud services.

“This means, activities that are currently exempted under the existing licensing framework will continue to be exempted,” it said.

As such, it said, cloud services will be licensed under an Application Service Provider Class (ASPC), which is specifically designed to provide easy market access and drive industry growth.

It said all companies that provide cloud services that have a local presence or through a data centre in Malaysia are required to register under the licence annually.

For regulatory purposes, MCMC has defined cloud service as any service provided to end-users based on a request over the internet from a cloud computing provider's server.

The provision of licensed activities without a license is an offence under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and as such, all service providers are advised to obtain the relevant licence before commencing their operations.

For more information, visit the MCMC website a www.mcmc.gov.my.

- Bernama