ECONOMY Minister Rafizi Ramli said yesterday (December 29) that any sharing of data integrated within the upcoming Central Data Base (Padu) will be facilitated through agreements between all the relevant agencies.
Speaking to the press after an editor’s briefing at the ministry in Putrajaya, Rafizi emphasized that the ownership of an individual’s data is also subject to the regulations set by the governing law of each agency or department.
He said the data is owned by the government agencies authorized under the laws of their respective jurisdictions, but in the past, this lack of integration was due to each agency claiming ownership of data that could not be shared according to their respective Acts.
Rafizi said that through Padu, ownership remains unchanged and is still governed by the Acts of government departments or agencies.
He said there is currently a data-sharing agreement between agencies as part of its operations.
However, he made it clear that this would not involve any banking information governed by the Financial Services Act.
According to current regulations, Rafizi said that a minister or director-general could disclose certain data. However, the government is in the process of creating a comprehensive law that links all the individual Acts.
He said nearly 300 agencies and departments would provide information for the central database, which would be available online starting on January 2 next year. It would also be open for personal verification for three months.
“How we handle the data is already regulated by the Acts. Even though all agencies contribute data to Padu, not all agencies can access all the data.
Rafizi said the way the data is shared between agencies would be decided by the government based on the used case, and the first was only for purposes of targeted subsidy.
He stressed that the issue of the data being shared with any party did not arise, as it is against the law.
According to him, additional data would be incorporated into the system created, and it would be owned and managed by the Department of Statistics Malaysia for RM2 million to create the most precise household profiles for the allocation of targeted subsidies.
-BTS Media
