CORONAVIRUS | Excitement over the release of the Gerak Malaysia Covid-19 contract tracing app developed by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) was tempered when the National Security Council (NSC) tweeted that it neither assessed nor approved the app.
The app has been designed to assist the authorities trace and analyse users’ movement nationwide to help contain the spread of the pandemic.
However, yesterday, Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin (photo, above) tweeted that it was currently a beta app that is yet to be approved by the NSC because of the location data tracking.
"We are discussing what features can be integrated into MySejahtera and MyTrace," he added, in references to two existing apps.
The NSC then confirmed on Twitter that it is neither assessing nor validating the app as it is working with Khairy's Ministry on combining the two apps.
How does the new Gerak Malaysia app by @SKMM_MCMC fit into this? play.google.com/store/apps/det…
That’s a beta app that tracks location data. Currently not approved by @MKNJPM because of the location data tracking. We are discussing what features can be integrated in MySejahtera and MyTrace.
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Neither Khairy nor the NSC elaborated on the projected timeframe or development of the app.
On March 26, Khairy announced that the app was being developed to assist with contact tracing and allow the Health Ministry to alert people who have been exposed to Covid-19 infectees.
This was following the successful implementation in Singapore of a smartphone app called Trace Together which helped in contact tracing.
On Tuesday, he tweeted that the app would be sent to the iOS and Android app stores in a few days.
Khairy also said that location information would not be recorded to protect the privacy of users.
- Mkini
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