PDPA for Directors and Senior Management: From Awareness to Accountability
Staff awareness is only part of PDPA compliance. Under the 2024 amendments, decisions about breach notification, DPO appointment, budget and risk appetite sit with the board and senior management, and regulators and customers expect to see that those decisions were made deliberately. This one-day programme is written for directors and senior leaders who need to understand what the PDPA now asks of them, rather than how to operate its controls day to day.
The day moves from why data protection is a board-level priority, through the 2024 amendments and the governance structures that give a board real oversight, to the decisions a board faces during a data breach. It finishes with a tabletop exercise in which participants work through a simulated breach as a board. The material suits organisations in financial services and other regulated sectors, and can be delivered in-house as a shorter executive session by arrangement.
HRD Corp SBL-Khas Claimable
Programme Agenda
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Welcome and Programme Overview
Introduction to the session, objectives, and housekeeping.
9:15 AM - 10:15 AM
Why Data Protection Is a Board-Level Priority
Personal data as both an asset and a risk, why regulatory scrutiny of data protection keeps rising, and what recent breaches in regulated sectors cost in money, reputation and trust. The aim is to frame data protection as a governance question rather than an IT or compliance task.
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
Break
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
The PDPA 2024 Amendments and What They Mean for Leadership
The amendments that matter most to a board: mandatory data breach notification, the DPO appointment requirement, direct obligations on data processors and increased penalties. Where relevant, how these sit alongside sector expectations such as Bank Negara Malaysia's technology risk and governance requirements.
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Governance, Oversight and Accountability
The division of responsibility between the board and management for data protection, the structures that make oversight real (reporting lines, committee agendas, management information), and what a board should expect to see about policies and controls, risk reporting and internal audit. This module also covers the role and independence of the Data Protection Officer.
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM - 2:20 PM
Data Breach Accountability and Crisis Leadership
What makes a breach reportable, who decides, and the notification clock: the Commissioner within 72 hours, then affected individuals within 7 days of that notification. The board's role during a breach, regulator, customer and media communication, and why documented decision-making matters if the board's conduct is later questioned.
2:20 PM - 3:15 PM
Data Protection in Risk Management and Strategy
Folding data protection into enterprise risk management, setting a risk appetite for data-related risks, and prioritising budget across technology, DPO capacity, risk and compliance. How data protection decisions connect to digital transformation and sustainability commitments.
3:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Break
3:30 PM - 4:10 PM
Tabletop Exercise: A Data Breach Reaches the Board
A simulated breach played out as a board discussion. Participants decide what to do first, what to prioritise, how and when to engage the regulator and how to communicate, then reflect on the gaps the exercise exposed in their own organisation's readiness.
4:10 PM - 4:45 PM
Leading a Data Protection Culture From the Top
What tone from the top looks like in practice, how to embed accountability across the organisation, how a board checks that staff awareness and compliance programmes actually work, and how leadership keeps data protection visible. Participants agree three actions to take back to their own board.
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM
Wrap-Up and Q&A
Key takeaways, next steps, and close.
Key Outcomes
- Explain what the PDPA 2024 amendments require of directors and senior management
- Describe the board's and management's separate responsibilities for data protection oversight
- Apply the breach notification timeline and decision-making steps in a breach scenario
- Assess the role and independence of the Data Protection Officer in their own organisation
- Include data protection in risk appetite, budget and strategy discussions
- Identify gaps in their organisation's board-level readiness and agree actions to close them
Training Mode Physical / Online / Hybrid / e-learning
HRD Corp SBL-Khas Claimable
Level Foundation, written for non-technical leaders. For directors, CEOs, senior managers and committee members who oversee data protection, with no prior PDPA knowledge required.
Duration 1 Day (8 Hours) | 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Venue In-house at the client's premises, or delivered via the client's preferred platform (Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or equivalent)
Assessment A tabletop breach exercise completed in groups, plus a short knowledge check
Certificate Certificate of Completion issued to all participants upon full attendance