Expose MySejahtera deal in Parliament, says Bar chief

 

The Malaysian Bar said it is ‘deeply perturbing’ that the developer of the MySejahtera software is fully owned by a Singaporean company.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Bar has called on the government to release the details of its non-disclosure agreement with Entomo Malaysia, the company that developed the MySejahtera application.

The government was urged to reveal the details of the agreement with Entomo Malaysia during the current Parliament session so that “all related issues can be debated”.

Bar president Karen Cheah said a Singaporean company, Entomo Pte Ltd, is the sole shareholder of Entomo Malaysia Sdn Bhd. “The fact that a foreign company is the sole shareholder of Entomo Malaysia, and owns the software for the application, is deeply perturbing,” she said.

She said the appointment of Entomo was not conducted through an open tender, and there was no agreement between the Malaysian government and the company, aside from the non-disclosure agreement.

Karen Cheah.

The government also had “no apparent control” over a licensing deal between Entomo Malaysia and MySejahtera Sdn Bhd, giving the latter a perpetual licence to develop and support the application until 2025.

MySejahtera was the health ministry’s main tool for managing the Covid-19 pandemic and was required for check-ins at public places when lockdown restrictions were eased. The app was mainly used for contact tracing, self-quarantine, and booking vaccination appointments.

Cheah said the ownership of the MySejahtera app, its source codes, user interfaces, and all personal data collected through it should be fully owned by the government – and that this should have been established from the outset.

Bar calls for Privacy Act

The Bar also called for the government to establish a Privacy Act to protect the data of Malaysians collected by companies or government authorities.

She said the liabilities and responsibilities of corporate bodies linked with MySejahtera should not just be governed by a contract between a corporate body and the government, but also by a privacy regime in Malaysia.

“This (privacy regime) is to protect all personal data collected by the Malaysian government or any entity collecting personal data on its behalf.

“Currently, Malaysia does not have such a privacy regime,” Cheah said.

She said personal data in Malaysia is governed by the Personal Data Protection Act which excludes the federal government and state governments. - FMT