Personal data will be tightly controlled under national Digital ID, says Fahmi

PETALING JAYA: Personal data security in the Digital Identity (Digital ID) will be under tight control, says Fahmi Fadzil.

The Communications and Digital Minister said this can be done when the government provides a module that can be used by all ministries, and subsequently by the private sector as well,

“With this module, we need not worry about the security aspects of Digital ID,” he told reporters after the Malaysia-Japan Digital Transformation and Innovation Seminar on Monday (Nov 27).

Fahmi also said he had instructed the Information Department and the pertinent ministries to enhance the clarity of the explanations regarding the Digital ID.

“Many people assert that in certain countries, they don’t want to do it (embrace digital identity), but many countries have,” he said, adding that these included Estonia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“This initiative has undergone collaborative efforts involving Mimos Berhad, with the cooperation of agencies such as the National Cyber Security Agency (Nacsa), CyberSecurity Malaysia, and the National Security Council,” he said.

Fahmi said that there are many benefits seen, such as cost reduction for application development and that the rakyat’s data will be safer from being stolen by malicious parties.

He also said that the conspiracy theories surrounding the digital ID are false, adding that the initiative was not new.

“This is not a new effort or policy, it was announced before by the (former) home minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin in 2021, it was a policy for us especially to standardise the sign-in process across ministries,” he said.

In 2021, when Hamzah introduced the Digital ID initiative, it was reported that the planning and implementation process was to begin in 2021 and it would be fully implemented by 2024.

Fahmi was present to launch the Malaysia-Japan Digital Transformation and Innovation Seminar on Monday at the Management and Science University (MSU).

The seminar was organised with the objective to provide a platform for knowledge sharing and exchange on current trends in innovation, technology and digital transformation at MSU and Malaysia and Japan in general.

During his speech, Fahmi said that he had come across several conspiracy theories by certain communities on social media after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had attended an event organised by Mimos, where he had discussed the topic of Digital ID.

“As a member of the Cabinet, I would like to seize this opportunity to encourage all of you to delve deeper into the soft initiatives advocated and organised by the administration.

“By doing so, we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of how these policies have been successfully implemented in neighboring countries.

“For example, Singapore has a single sign-in system.

“To address problems relating to fake IDs, scammers, it becomes imperative for the government to look at this initiative and ensure that we approach digital transformation with a better understanding,” he said.