Telcos reassure customer privacy in MCMC data initiative

Borneo Post

4 hours ago

File photo for illustration purposes
KUALA LUMPUR (June 8): Telecommunication companies (telcos) have reaffirmed their commitment to protecting customer data and privacy, following the use of mobile phone data (MPD) for official statistical purposes by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
U Mobile Sdn Bhd affirmed in a statement today that customer data and privacy are its top priority, with policies and processes in place to ensure any shared data is anonymised, aggregated and fully compliant with applicable data protection laws and regulations.
'We are aware of the objectives of the initiative and are committed to working with MCMC in a manner that upholds the highest standards of data governance,' it said.
It noted that when the company does share the MPD, at no point will personally identifiable information be shared or processed.
U Mobile remains committed to safeguarding customer privacy and ensuring full regulatory compliance in all aspects of data management, it added.
Meanwhile, Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) also clarified that the MPD submitted to MCMC is fully anonymised and does not contain any personally identifiable information.
Data submission is carried out under strict governance and security protocols, with full compliance to applicable company policies as well as national laws and regulatory requirements, it said in a statement.
'TM remains fully committed to safeguarding the safety and privacy of customer data with responsibility and integrity,' it noted.
CelcomDigi Bhd said in a statement that it continues to work intently with MCMC to support the government's initiatives without compromising the integrity of customer data.
'When required, CelcomDigi will process requested data within our own secure environments and provide a limited sample on relevant fields comprising anonymised and aggregated output to the commission,' it said.
YTL Communications Sdn Bhd also confirms compliance with MCMC's directive to submit mobile network usage records for the first quarter of 2025, in support of the government's recently approved mandate to use MPD for national statistics.
'In fulfilling this obligation, YTL Communications has taken rigorous steps to anonymise all data prior to submission. No personally identifiable information has been shared, and customer privacy remains our highest priority,' it noted in a statement.
Maxis Bhd said that for this initiative, as requested by MCMC, there is no access to, processing of, or sharing of personally identifiable information at any stage, as the company places the priority on data privacy and security.
'All data is anonymised by Maxis and processed in an aggregated manner within a secure environment, in full compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA),' it said in a statement.
On June 6, MCMC clarified that its collection of MPD from mobile network operators (MNOs) does not involve the access, processing or disclosure of any personally identifiable information.
MCMC said MPD was used strictly for the generation of official statistics to support evidence-based policymaking in two key domains, namely the information and communications technology sector and the tourism sector. – Bernama