The Malaysian chapter of Transparency International (TI-M) has urged Putrajaya to provide updates on investigations concerning the alleged theft of personal data from the National Registration Department (NRD).
In a statement, TI-M president Muhammad Mohan said the government must also identify those responsible for this crime and inform the public of plans to prevent such incidents.
"The silence is deafening. The government doesn't seem to have the answers to such important questions being asked but is nevertheless answerable to the people for any failure to protect our data," he said.
Muhammad argued that answers were necessary as there have been several high-profile cases where personal data of ordinary Malaysians were compromised involving government bodies such as the NRD, International Trade and Industry Ministry and MySejahtera.
"Neither of these incidents are isolated or new. The media has been saturated with news of data leaks, risks to personal data protection and, consequently, demands for answers from the government on how our data is being handled.
"The irony is our demands for transparency are responded with opacity and secrecy, whilst our personal data appears to be transparently available for picking," he said.
In April, an advertisement for 22.5 million personal records, purportedly stolen from the NRD's MyIdentity database, appeared on the breached.co website.
The seller even posted a "sample" of his product which contained personal details of Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin, who oversees the NRD.
In May, a cybersecurity expert revealed that personal records of participants of the International Trade and Industry Ministry's Public-private Partnership Covid-19 Industry Immunisation programme were easily accessible.
On June 13, several news organisations reported on investigations by an anonymous cybersecurity expert on a website that offered personal information for a subscription fee of as low as US$5 a month.
This website allows for look-ups by name, telephone number, business number and vehicle plate.
At the time of writing, the website is still accessible.
Hamzah told Sinar Harian in a recent interview that there was a leak but said that NRD was not to blame.
He said efforts to plug the leaks include limiting just 44 government agencies to NRD databases. - Mkini
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