Even if registered agencies are used, there is a need to be compassionate and to ensure that personal data is not compromised.

WE are all familiar with the “Ah Long” menace because of the many reports about their unscrupulous means of debt collection.

With much education and efforts by the Government, members of the public will hopefully not turn to the Ah Longs, even if they are desperate.

But we should also be aware of the methods employed by registered debt collectors.

A debt collector agency employs various means to collect any debt owed. They are specifically told not to take “no” for an answer and will try to get the money any way they can, be it through guilt, pressure or perseverance.

First, it calls up the debtor repeatedly and also sends out letters.

If there is no response, a representative will visit the debtor’s house or workplace.

Such persistence usualy makes a debtor pay up immediately.

But if the debtor still does not pay, the collection agency begins to apply more pressure.

So desperate are the tactics of the debt collectors that they make unsubstantiated claims about where their authority comes from.

They may claim to be from government agencies such as Bank Negara, the High Court, the police and others.

As a reward for their success, they are paid for their services. This may seem harmless in itself, but it is also extremely unethical and illegal.

Legally, debt collectors cannot employ verbal threats or harassments on debtors in any way.

They cannot threaten to take the debtor to court nor use foul language when speaking to him.

This is stated clearly in the debt collection fair practice guideline, and back in December 2009, in a reply to a question in Dewan Negara, the Deputy Finance Minister said: “Financial institutions can use the service of debt collectors but they must follow the regulations in the guideline approved by Bank Negara Malaysia.”

The guidelines forbid any form of harassment. Debt collectors, for example, are not allowed to call the defaulter more than three times a week to settle the case.

From the Islamic perspective, if the debtor is unable to pay, he or she is required to notify the creditors of the situation.

Also, he is entitled to reschedule his debt payments.

At the same time, the creditor is also obliged to accept the request postponement and provide concessions to the debtor.

Such a provision is based on the Quranic verse, “If someone has difficulty so give ease to him” (Al-Baqarah: 280).

In addition, many Hadiths encourage creditors to be lenient and provide convenience to debtors, if they were to experience difficulty.

Critical problems from debt collectors arise not only from such circumstances, but also when personal information is compromised.

A collection agency, for example, may be staffed by many employees who have access to the database. Our identity card number can be linked to other sources of information, and if the data is misused, there can be consequences.

Which is why we now have the Personal Data Protection Act which is to prevent the abuse of citizens’ personal data for commercial purposes.

The Act plays a crucial role in safeguarding the interest of individuals and makes it illegal for corporate entities or individuals to sell personal information or allow the use of data by third parties.

In his keynote address at the Second Annual Personal Data Protection Summit, Datuk Joseph Salang added that the Act gives the public more control over their personal data.

Whenever consent is required for data processing, it will have to be given expressly, rather than by implication.

Organisations also need to embark on continuous data privacy audit exercises to ensure compliance with the law.

At the end of the day, we need to be vigilant as to how our personal data is used, not only to collect debt, but also in other areas.

> Nor Azaruddin Husni Nuruddin is Senior Fellow at Ikim.

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