SG BULOH – Some voters in Sg Buloh have expressed concern over the potential abuse of personal data from the MySejahtera app during the 15th general election, Pakatan Harapan’s candidate Datuk R. Ramanan has claimed.
Ramanan said over the past several days of campaigning, at least two or three constituents have raised alarm bells over the possible use of personal information gathered on the contact-tracing app to cajole for votes benefitting certain parties.
“Some of them (voters) told me to be careful as it (data abuse) may not happen early (during campaigning) but maybe later on when polling day draws nearer.”
“(They told me that) they (campaigners) will use the data such as phone numbers to deploy cybertroopers and send messages (to seek votes).”
Ramanan said this during a press conference at his operations centre, here, this afternoon after being asked about his thoughts about the MySejahtera controversy over the past year.
The apparent concerns were raised as Ramanan is contesting against caretaker health minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Ramanan, who has been a vocal critic of Khairy’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, said he called the MySejahtera issue an “unbelievable” matter that he did not touch during his ceramah as his counterpart had yet to answer questions on past controversies, such as the one involving finance house ECM Libra Bhd.
In April this year, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government must explain the involvement of a Singaporean company in the management of MySejahtera, which could expose the nation to potential security risks.
The PKR president also called on MySejahtera to cease data collection until it can guarantee users’ privacy.
At the time, Khairy insisted MySejahtera and all the data collected through the app are owned by the government.
The government also stated in April that it had compiled personal and movement data of some 38 million Malaysians, foreign residents and travellers through MySejahtera.
However, Ramanan said that Khairy as the health minister then has yet to provide a satisfactory answer on the MySejahtera issue.
“What explanation did he give? Can you remember? There is nothing to remember because what he gave wasn’t an explanation,” Ramanan said.
“This is what I’ve been told (by some voters), that I have to go into People’s Housing Programme (PPR) to meet many residents there to deliver my message personally because Khairy already has our data as well as the phone number of Sg Buloh voters, which he will use to spread what he wants.” – The Vibes, November 9, 2022
