KUCHING – The Sarawak government supports the federal government’s Central Database Hub (Padu) in principle because of its noble intention of ensuring that aid resources are effectively channelled to Malaysians, said Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.
However, the Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Law, MA63 and State-Federal Relations) said caution must be given to Padu’s implementation.
“This is to avoid depriving eligible Malaysians of targeted subsidies by taking into account an individual’s financial position and economic well-being.
“Thus, clarifications from the Economy Ministry on the matter regarding its security implementation and protocols are pertinent in order for the Sarawak government to fully support the federal government’s initiative, as it also needs to protect Sarawakians’ interests,” she said in a statement.
She said the Sarawak government and people’s concerns about Padu are justified, given the prevalence of data breaches, leaks, and scams these days.
Unlike other jurisdictions, Malaysia has no specific law such as a Privacy Act to protect personal privacy, except for the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA), which regulates the processing of personal data regarding commercial transactions and provides principles for data protection, including consent, purpose limitation, and data security, she said.
“It is a common misconception that the PDPA is a ‘privacy rights’ legislation. While privacy and personal data can often be interlinked, the PDPA is narrow in its application as it deals with personal data privacy as opposed to privacy rights in general.
“Even though there is no principle on the right to privacy in Malaysia, the Federal Court case of Sivarasa Rasiah v Badan Peguam Malaysia & Anor (2010) 3 CLJ 507 held that the right to personal liberty under Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution includes the right to privacy,” she said.
As such, Sharifah said the consolidation of the personal data of all Malaysians in one central database must be equipped with the highest level of security and data protection.
“To determine the targeted subsidies, information on economic and financial standing is important, but not to the extent of disclosing or exposing their personal and private profiles, which are not necessary in determining the eligibility of the targeted recipients,” she said.
Last week, Sri Aman Resident Abang Mohamad Porkan Abang Budiman issued a memorandum requesting divisional administrators not to register particulars with Padu until further notice.
The memorandum dated March 21 also called on divisional administrators to relay the message to all community leaders and members of village security and development committees under their charge.
The Borneo Post also sighted a circular dated March 22 from Sibu Resident Datuk Wong Hee Sieng informing divisional administrators that the state government had yet to decide on the registration of personal data with Padu.
He said community leaders should therefore refrain from involving themselves in the matter.
During a press conference on March 22, Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah likened citizens signing up for Padu to being stripped naked, seeing that the system required information including bank account numbers and housing loans. – March 25, 2024