The government must explain the rationale for maintaining tracking information through the MySejahtera application beyond April 1, said Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan.
“The Malaysian people cannot be burdened with a direct ‘surveillance’ mechanism forever. It is an invasion of privacy.
“(The government) has to decide a period when all this ends so that life can go back to normal,” he said.
Mohamad’s comments on the matter came amid ongoing discussions between Putrajaya and MYSJ Sdn Bhd on a possible deal to keep the MySejahtera smartphone application running.
The application, developed by KPISoft Malaysia Sdn Bhd (now Entomo Malaysia) in 2020, was primarily used as a contact-tracing system.
It has since branched into a vaccination appointment application and is capable of proximity tracking through Bluetooth.
An ongoing commercial dispute initiated by P2 Asset Management Sdn Bhd has revealed that Entomo Malaysia had set up MYSJ Sdn Bhd as the vehicle that would commercialise the MySejahtera application.
Mohamad also urged Putrajaya to explain if it was considering, without an open tender, to enter into an agreement with MYSJ Sdn Bhd.
“Although the Health Ministry has given an explanation, there is still some confusion that needs to be cleared up.
“The primary issue is MYSJ Sdn Bhd’s appointment through direct negotiation and not open tender.
“The people have a right to know the rationale, motive, and capabilities of the company,” he said.
The Public Accounts Committee previously established that MYSJ Sdn Bhd’s directors were completely separate from that of Entomo Malaysia.
Mohamad said the MySejahtera application has national importance because it involves the personal data, health information, and movement details of users.
“Let’s not forget that this application’s genesis was corporate social responsibility during the start of the pandemic.
“If there are any other purposes for the application, other than managing the pandemic, it would require the government to conduct a comprehensive engagement with all stakeholders, including Malaysians.
“Any attempts to upgrade the application, such as organ donation or other health matters, may have its benefits but it is not in line with the original purpose of the application,” he said.
In a separate statement, MCA publicity bureau deputy chairperson Wong Siew Mun said she agreed with Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin that other vendors could be considered.
She said the government should choose another vendor if negotiations with MySJ are unable to reach a fair conclusion.
Khairy yesterday said the government can choose to work with another vendor if they are unable to reach a fair deal with MySJ, as the app’s data is still owned by the government.
Phase-out ‘check-ins’
Meanwhile, Bandar Kuching MP Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen urged the government to phase out the “check-in” function on MySejahtera as the country moves to endemicity.
“The main purpose for the ‘check-in’ feature was for contact tracing and it was important then, when our strategy was containment and even mitigation.
“However, now with the SOPs being changed by the Health Ministry where quarantine is no more needed for close contacts and testing strategy is only for the symptomatic, the ‘check-in’ function has little epidemiological value,” Yii said in another statement.
He added that the government should clarify how successful the ‘check-in’ feature was in helping the contact tracing process to address public concern about data privacy.
However, he said, this does not mean MySejahtera does not have a role to play in the future, as contact tracing features could be upgraded for future pandemics and reactivated at a time of need.
He also suggested MySejahtera be converted to a green pass system where only individuals with ‘green’ statuses on the app will be permitted to carry out activities allowed by the government, especially for travelling and quarantine duration.
“So, all we need to do is flash it to authorities at any entry point to enter rather than scan QR codes.
“If needed, the authorities can scan our QR code at random to verify the authenticity of our vaccination certificate or even test result from time to time for monitoring and enforcement activities,” he said.
More explanation needed
Separately, the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) called the government to provide more satisfactory clarifications for these MySejahtera issues immediately, as well as for a probe into the entire process of acquiring the app.
While they acknowledged Khairy’s explanations on the matter yesterday, they said there are questions still unanswered.
“What was notably left out of Khairy’s explanations was the extent to which MySJ would exert control over the operations of and personal data obtained by the MySejahtera app and the process by which MySJ was selected to procure the application despite the presence of a political figure on the board of directors.
“Khairy’s assurance that the application remains under the control of the Health Ministry is contradictory to the fact that its operations will be taken over by a private entity,” C4 said in a statement today.
They posed these questions:
1. Why has the government decided to privatise a mandated public health service?
2. What were the selection criteria for the procurement of MySejahtera and why was it not made public through an open tender?
3. Why was MySJ selected despite a known political figure sitting on the board of directors that should have immediately raised conflict of interest concerns?
4. How is the Health Ministry going to ensure the personal data of millions of Malaysians will be protected?
They added that the MACC should investigate this matter and lawmakers should debate this in Parliament, specifically on steps to be taken to provide redress to this issue. - Mkini
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