Malaysia orders telecoms firms to hand over user data, raising privacy concerns
The
Malaysian government has ordered the country's telecommunications firms to hand over detailed records of phone calls and internet usage, according to industry sources, raising concerns about the state's use of data as it broadens its controls over online activity.
In April, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission sent a letter to telecoms companies instructing them to send detailed call and internet logs for the first three months of this year, apparently for the government's Mobile Phone Data project, two industry sources confirmed.
Non-compliance would be considered an offence under the Communications and Multimedia Act, which carries a penalty of a 20,000 ringgit (US$4,700) fine or six months' jail, the commission said in the letter seen by This Week in Asia.
'They are asking for call records, IP call records, location, latitude and longitude,' one source said. 'We have asked MCMC about transparency and accountability for the use of the data. We don't know if MCMC will make a public statement that such an exercise is under way.'
The MCMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prime Minister
Anwar Ibrahim 's administration imposed mandatory licensing for
social media platforms in January in a bid to stamp out scams, online gambling and child sex exploitation targeted at Malaysians.
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