Feature image credit: Majlis Keselamatan Negara
Recently, we found out that our private data has been available for public access on the Internet.
Twitter user @Radz1112 shared that he came across a website that allows you to search for the personal details of any Malaysian, including their IC number, address, voting details, phone number, vehicle ownership, as well as JPJ and police summons. All you have to do is create an account with the website and pay the required fees of RM6.63. One might opt for the highest tier of RM44,185 if they have disposable income to spare.
The information is believed to be from a leaked JPN database.
Saya dah senaraikan maklumat yang seseorang boleh dapat berdasarkan sumber.
Yang paling merisaukan adalah maklumat MySejahtera pun ada, tapi kena bayar. pic.twitter.com/bH2OwLbyfs
If you wish, you could access MySejahtera information too. How this came to be is anybody’s guess. If you remember, MySejahtera is believed to have been sold to a private company.
Thankfully, the site with our personal data was taken down around the evening of 12 June 2022. However, one thing is clear: our data is not safe. I repeat, our data is not safe.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, for the sake of contact tracing, we were required to check in with our MySejahtera app wherever we went. That means that there is a record of our comings and goings, and whoever possesses our data is king.
Can that data be weaponised against us?
One comment on Reddit tells a chilling tale.
Reddit user DtotemNTG made a last-minute booking for a flight with a certain airline in Malaysia. His credit card was charged, BUT he did not receive a confirmation email or flight details. Since he found this airline’s customer service wanting, he made his way to the airport to find out what was up.
In the end, he missed his flight because, duh, no flight deets. If he wanted to fly, he would have to book another flight at a crazy-high price. He tried to get a refund, but lo and behold, the airline ignored him.
This persisted until MAVCOM got involved. Then it got interesting. The airline actually started quoting his MySejahtera movements! This was back in February 2022 when MySejahtera check-ins were still required. The airline somehow managed to get his MySejahtera data (how??) and used it to prove that he was “late” to the airport, and was therefore not entitled to a refund. They insisted that their booking system was not to blame.
Now, the airline has revealed something big. They have access to MySejahtera data, and using it against their passengers too! How are we supposed to feel about that?
If this is true, OP’s MySejahtera data has been weaponised against him. Thus we ask—is this just the beginning?
Chow Ping Lee is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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