MCMC not collecting public's personal data, says Fahmi
Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said discussions on the collection of anonymised data have been going on since 2023 and have not been an issue.
KUALA LUMPUR : Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil has assured the public that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission is not collecting any personal information from telecommunications companies.
Fahmi said the data which MCMC has requested telecommunications companies to provide will not be shared in a form that contains any personally identifiable information.
He said MCMC's request for phone companies to hand over data on all mobile phone calls made from January to March is a Cabinet decision aimed at collecting data for the statistics department.
This would enable more detailed information to be collected regarding the quality, service levels, and number of users in a particular sub-district or area.
'The telcos will not be sharing any data containing personal information. Only anonymised data will be (shared), and it will be processed as carefully as possible by the telcos,' he told reporters after an Aidiladha sacrificial event in Lembah Pantai here today.
'This is a decision that has been made jointly by the telcos and MCMC, and it also involves agencies such as the statistics department.
'Since 2023, there have been a series of workshops discussing this, and it has not been an issue.'
Noting that most of the data about the country's telecommunications sector is 'too general', Fahmi said the communications ministry is starting to shift from providing information based on coverage of populated areas to more specific data provided by each telco.
'Therefore, we want to ensure that the data collected under the statistics department will support better planning and policymaking that is evidence-based and ultimately benefits the people,' he said.
On Friday, MCMC defended its directive requiring phone companies to hand over data on all mobile phone calls made from January to March.
It said no personal information would be accessed, processed, or disclosed by the commission.
It also said the data requested was anonymised and contained no information that can be used to identify any person.
This came as the South China Morning Post, quoting industry sources, said Putrajaya had ordered mobile phone companies to hand over detailed records of phone calls and internet usage.
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