Lawyers' group wants Padu suspended until data law amended

Human rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today urged the government to suspend the Central Database Hub (Padu) system until the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA) is amended.

This must be done to ensure the government, along with its agencies, is responsible for the protection and security of the data collected, said LFL director Zaid Malek.

“As it stands, Section 3(1) of the PDPA exempts the government from its application, meaning that the data collected by Padu can be disseminated or used by the government beyond its declared purpose of targeted subsidies,” he said.

The release of the Padu system before amending the PDPA opens the public up to data breaches, leaks, scams, and other abuses, Zaid said.

Should the data collected be used for political purposes it would be a “massive betrayal of trust”, he added.

LFL director Zaid Malek

Zaid pointed out that since the data collected will be centralised on a single platform, its security must be a priority.

“It is thus not enough for the government to make verbal assurances that the data collected under Padu are not misused or will be protected,” he said.

What happened to Omnibus Bill?

Referring to Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli’s talk of an Omnibus Bill for the sharing of data between government agencies on Padu, Zaid questioned why the Bill was not implemented before the launch of the Padu system.

In June last year, Rafizi was reported by Bernama as saying that the Omnibus Bill will ensure safe data sharing.

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli

“Without the amendments being made before the launch of Padu, the public cannot be assured that their data will be protected from misuse by the government or scammers and unscrupulous individuals who will undoubtedly target the massive database. 

“This type of criminality is notoriously widespread now and has become regional. It is strange that the government has proceeded without fixing the law as this is tantamount to putting the horse before the cart,” Zaid continued. 

The Economic Ministry yesterday thanked a netizen who found a loophole within the Padu system, which allowed third parties to use MyKad numbers to override passwords.

Soon after, the social media user - who said he was a developer - made the posting, Padu’s Application Programming Interface (API) was changed.

This was among several other complaints on social media, including from former deputy minister Ong Kian Ming, who alleged that he could use the IC number of others to register them on Padu. - Mkini