WITH the MySejahtera app
issue raging, an expert urged the Government not take the matter lightly as it
involves national security.
“The MySejahtera app
not only have data and tracked movements of private individuals but also of our
police officers, politicians and intelligence officers, plus their families
too.
“And now we are hearing that a
foreign company is a shareholder of the company that created the app. The
question is, is this foreign company have any ties to their Government or
others?
“If the answer is yes, then we
may risk the data being compromised to foreigners,” Arunachala Research &
Consultancy Sdn Bhd principal consultant R Paneir Selvam told FocusM.
On March 26 health
portal Code Blue revealed that the current sole shareholder of
Entomo Malaysia Sdn Bhd – which legally owns the software it used to
develop MySejahtera – is a company registered and based in
Singapore, Entomo Pte Ltd.
A Companies Commission of
Malaysia (SSM) search showed that Entomo Pte Ltd owns 300,004 shares in Entomo
Malaysia, formerly known as KPISoft Malaysia Sdn Bhd, that has issued share
capital of RM300,004.
SSM’s record on Entomo
Malaysia’s shareholder particulars lists Entomo Pte Ltd, the sole shareholder,
as “foreign”, with a Singapore-based address.
According to a company search
on Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) yesterday,
Entomo Pte Ltd has four directors: Malaysian Raveenderen Ramamoothie;
Singaporeans Tan Seng Hong and Finian Tan; and Indian national Naveen Pralhad
Deshpande.
But on March 31, Health
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin stressed that the Malaysian Government owns MySejahtera’s intellectual
property (IP) rights, modules, and source code, and personal data collected
through the COVID-19 app.
He added that among the main
terms and conditions of the NDA signed between the National Security Council
(NSC) and Entomo Malaysia on April 1, 2020, are that “the Government has full
and absolute ownership of all data and information obtained through the usage
of the app”.
“I guarantee that all the data
stored in MySejahtera’s database is preserved and used only
for pandemic control purposes solely by the Health Ministry (MOH),” Khairy was
reported as saying.
Touching on matter, Paneir
Selvam said that intelligence officers mostly work under the radar to collect
information but the pandemic have compelled them to use the app for their daily
routine.
“With them scanning their
presence everywhere, their movements are now quite trackable. This is why it’s
important to have the app being fully controlled by our Government.
“But is this the case
with MySejahtera? If it was developed by a Singaporean firm, then
we may have a situation where the data can get compromised,” he
mentioned.
On Khairy’s assurances that
the data is owned by the Malaysian Government, Paneir Selvam reminded the
minister on how hackers have evolved over the years.
He then queried whether the
Government had tested its technological prowess to check whether the data would
never get compromised should hacking takes place.
“The question is, why give the
project to a company linked to a foreign firm in the first place? Who approved
this?” Paneir Selvam asked.
Probe the matter
On how to remedy the
situation, he urged the Government to transfer all the data back to Malaysia,
in the event it was not, and mortify it so as to make it inaccessible even to
its original developer.
Secondly, Paneir Selvam said
the Special Branch and the military intelligence must also investigate whether
data stored under the MySejahtera app has been
compromised.
“I have also read reports that
a local company is willing to replicate and improve the app from scratch for
just RM6 mil. It also claims that its software can be enhanced with a
Geographical Information System (GIS) which can gather data for visualisation
and analysis for pandemic crisis management.
“Plus, the company is willing
to transfer all the data back to the Government to be managed. Why not we
consider the proposal?
“In any case, we should never
allow any firms linked to foreigners to deal with our data,” he remarked. –
April 3, 2022
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