Recently opposition leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, raised his concerns about the MySejahterta app.
At the same time allegations that information from the app is being sold started to make their rounds. It didn’t help that the cybercrime statistics in the country have been on the rise and cases of data leaks were prevalent.
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Anwar’s concerns, allegations of personal data being sold, and increasing cyber crimes seem like interlinked issues, and in some ways they are. But let’s take a brief look at each of them to also understand how different they are as well.
Anwar Against Cronies
Yesterday, Anwar posted in length his valid concern about MySejahtera on Facebook.
His comments were mainly on how the contract and ownership of the now ubiquitous – and in some cases compulsory app – is linked to “individuals with political and business connections to parties in the ruling coalition government”.
However, his main points are:
- Why was MySejahtera sold to a public company instead of keeping it under the management of the Ministry of Health?
- Why was it not offered as open tender?
#StopUsingMySejahtera
When the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that My SJ Sdn Bhd, a private firm, was appointed by the Health Ministry to take over MySejahtera, the hashtag #StopUsingMySejahtera began to appear.
This was the news that prompted Anwar to make his comments.
Despite the public’s understandable concern about the privacy of their data, there were no actual cases reported of data from MySejahtera being leaked and sold.
In the day and age where people freely share their lives and personal information on social media platforms that regularly sell their data and leak them, is data privacy a concern?
Well, it should be, but it is not as big of a deal as people think. The real issue here is the echo of what Anwar brought up: why is the app sold to a public company? Think of it as the public side of the same campaign.
KJ’s Answer
Before we look into the increasing number of cybercrimes in the country, we have to take a look at the Health Minister’s answer to both issues.
MySejahtera is fully owned by the Government with MOH as the main owner including all data received by MySj. The confidentiality of data is guaranteed and MOH will always ensure that this aspect is not compromised.
Khairy Jamaluddin Tweeted from his iPhone.
He also attached the official media statement from his ministry.
MySejahtera dimiliki sepenuhnya oleh Kerajaan dengan KKM sebagai pemilik utama termasuk semua data yang diterima MySj. Kerahsiaan data adalah terjamin dan KKM akan sentiasa memastikan aspek ini tidak dikompromi. pic.twitter.com/DcRCID0vXb
— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) March 27, 2022
About Those Worrying Numbers
The home minister recently said that the number of cyberbullying, fraud, intrusion, phishing and email scam cases had almost doubled.
Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin shared that last year there were more than 20,000 cybercrime cases with a total loss of RM560 million.
This year, as of February, 3,273 cases have been reported involving RM114 million.
At the same time, he said that cybersecurity remains one of Malaysia’s top concerns.
He said so at the launch of the Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2022 and National Security (NATSEC) Asia 2022 exhibitions at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
These exhibitions are held at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) starting today and will end on 30 Mar.
