SHAH ALAM – Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has disabled the link to an online document containing the personal details of its potential students.
Bernama reported that the university has also apologised for the mistake, and confirmed that the link has been deactivated and that an update was made.
“We apologise for the mistake,” UiTM said.
This follows a Twitter user’s complaint yesterday that UiTM had published the MyKad numbers and emails of nearly 12,000 applicants in a Google Doc on an unsecured link.
A source from the local university’s Communications Department confirmed the mistake to The Vibes yesterday, saying that efforts were underway to check which department is in charge of handling the Google Doc.
“This was truly an error on UiTM’s part,” the source acknowledged.
The unsecured document contained the full names, MyKad numbers, and e-mail addresses of those selected for an interview to enter its foundation programme.
This is not the first time UiTM is facing data protection issues.
In 2019, the university said that it would probe into claims that more than a million of its students’ personal details were leaked online.
This came after tech portal Lowyat.net reported that the records of 1,164,540 students, mainly those who enrolled between 2000 and 2018, were compromised.
Besides alleging that UiTM was aware of the breach but did not disclose the matter to the public, the portal said that the leaked data included details like student names, MyKad numbers, house and e-mail addresses, and mobile numbers. – The Vibes, May 9, 2023
