Fahmi assures public MCMC only collecting anonymised telco data, no personal information involved
KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil has assured the public that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is not collecting any personal information from telecommunications companies.
According to Free Malaysia Today, Fahmi said the request for mobile phone call data from January to March involves anonymised information and contains no personally identifiable details.
'The telcos will not be sharing any data containing personal information. Only anonymised data will be (shared), and it will be processed as carefully as possible by the telcos,' he told reporters after an Aidiladha sacrificial event in Lembah Pantai today.
Fahmi said the initiative, made by Cabinet decision, is intended to assist the Department of Statistics in collecting detailed data for planning and policymaking.
He said the data would enable more accurate insights into service quality, coverage, and user numbers at the sub-district level.
'This is a decision that has been made jointly by the telcos and MCMC, and it also involves agencies such as the statistics department,' he said.
He added that workshops involving stakeholders had been held since 2023, and the matter had not been contentious.
Fahmi said the ministry is shifting from reporting general coverage data to more specific information from each telecommunications company.
He said the aim is to support better evidence-based planning that will benefit the public.
On Friday, MCMC defended its directive requiring telcos to submit mobile call records from the first quarter of the year.
The commission said the data is anonymised and cannot be used to identify individuals.
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