KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 29 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has today called for the government to conduct an investigation into matters relating to the MySejahtera mobile application.
He said it is still unclear as to how the government is currently protecting Malaysians’ personal data stored in the Ministry of Health (MoH) Covid-19 contact tracing app.
“Malaysians want to know where the data is stored? Is it stored in a secure environment with limited access?
“What mechanisms are in place to prevent third parties from accessing and stealing their data? What kind of protection do the people have to prevent the data from being misused which will result in them being persecuted, deceived and discriminated against?
“I now call for a comprehensive investigation by Parliament to be initiated to identify all matters involving MySejahtera to understand the concept of transparency and confidentiality of personal data,” he said in a statement here.
Anwar who is also Port Dickson MP cited a report whereby the health minister Khairy Jamaluddin reportedly said: “When I took over MoH, I decided to make sure that the management of the MySejahtera application was brought to the health ministry because I found that during the pandemic period, there was no contract between KPISoft and the government”.
According to Anwar, this statement by the minister also meant that the negotiation contract with KPISoft (now called Entomo Malaysia Sdn Bhd), the company responsible for developing the application only started when he took office in August 2021, which is 16 months after it was launched.
“This means that for 16 months, the government together with KPISoft/Entomo regulated the use and data of the MySejahtera application without any agreement,” said Anwar.
He pointed out that right up to now, the question of the ownership of the MySejahtera mobile application and its data continue to be unclear despite attempts by the minister to explain it.
Anwar added that Entomo Malaysia is 100 per cent owned by a Singapore-based entity, Entomo Pte Ltd, based on the Companies Commission of Malaysia.
“This is worrying when the Malaysian government has involved foreign entities without a contract for CSR (corporate social responsibility) purposes to develop and manage a software that collects personal and sensitive data of Malaysians.
“I am also surprised that the National Security Council in April 2020 has allowed foreign entities to develop and manage applications critical to national security that not only have access to health and personal information without a written agreement, but have ownership over confidentiality and data in the application.
“From clarifying these questions, the Cabinet is now considering awarding MySJ Sdn Bhd contract by direct negotiation for the MySejahtera application,” he said.
He also claimed that Khairy’s failure to answer questions regarding open tenders in this regard meant that there is a hidden aspect from public knowledge about MySejahtera.
“It is unlikely that citizens will know what data has been stored and how it has been used for certain purposes by these foreign entities.
“The responsible minister and the Cabinet can deny it, but given that there is no transparent agreement starting from April 2020, Malaysians should have suspicions and worries,” he said.
Yesterday, Khairy said the government was in the midst of negotiating with license holder MySJ on the subscription terms of the MySejahtera application.
Khairy said, while discussions have yet to conclude, he gave assurance that the government remains the sole custodian of the MySejahtera application data.
