No Plans To Scrap Mobile Phone Data Initiative Says Fahmi

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KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya has no plans to scrap the Mobile Phone Data (MPD) initiative because no privacy violation occurred, the Dewan Rakyat hears.
Communication Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil also said the MPD was in line with the Cabinet decision, as well as local legislations and international standards.
“At the same time, all necessary safety measures have been implemented in the MPD initiative.
“The government is also always open to improving security mechanisms and it is also monitoring it from time to time to ensure public confidence,” said the Communications Ministry in a statement on Wednesday (July 30).
Fahmi was responding to a question by Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah, who asked if the ministry would cancel the MPD initiative.
Fahmi said the MPD initiative does not involve any personally identifiable information (PII) and data provided by mobile network operators (MNO) was not classified as personal information under the Personal Data Protection Act 2010.
Fahmi also said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the Statistics Department and MNOs held a media briefing on June 9, where an explanation was given.
“The MCMC is aware of public concerns regarding the privacy risks that may arise from the MPD initiative.
“But, the data given by MNOs are in the form of output statistics that are aggregated and it is not individual.
“The statistics are generated from internal processing by MNOs in a safe environment before it is shared with the MCMC,” said Fahmi.
Fahmi also said the benefits of the MPD were its ability to provide more accurate information that is granular and near real-time, in line with a data approach and the government’s digital transformation agenda.
“The MPD initiative will be used to support policy planning and making in two main sectors - telecommunications and tourism, including a focal point in Langkawi, in line with the original mandate of this initiative,” added Fahmi.
Early last month, the MCMC said MNOs are only required to provide eight types of data in the MPD collection initiative.
No personally identifiable information, such as IC number, name or phone number, is collected.
Among the data collected under the MPD initiative were mobile station international subscriber directory numbers (MSISDNs), unique ID, and the longitude and latitude data of telco providers. - Star

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