Digital ID registration in Malaysia reaches 1.6M civil servants

Malaysia’s digital identity registration campaign has kicked off with the enrollment of government employees, and The Edge Malaysia reports that the process is going well, with 1.6 million civil servants signed up so far.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil says the government plans to open registration for MyDigital ID single sign-on system for government services to the public in March. He further suggested that the early registration of civil servants will help them inform the public about the new system.

The government has also requested the Information Department to assist implementing agency Mimos in explaining the importance of registration for the digital ID to the public. The department, known as JaPen, runs an “Info on Wheels” program to assist with disseminating information about public sector initiatives.

Mimos is reportedly targeting 10 million registrations in the first quarter of calendar 2024.

Data security questions loom

A credit reporting agency says it has discovered personally identifiable information from more than 58,000 Malaysians on the dark web over the past three years, reports The Star.

More than 335,000 individual data points on the Malaysians were discovered, including passport data, email addresses and payment card information.

The report refers to a string of data breaches in the country, affecting millions of consumers and occurring across several sectors.

Associate Professor Dr. Husin Jazri, director of Taylor University’s Global Centre for Cyber Safety tells The Sun that MyDigital ID could dramatically improve authentication in the country, but cautioned that maintaining public trust will be challenging.

“MyDigital ID can be the most efficient way to organise targeted subsidies as long as no abuses and conflict of interest occur in its ecosystem,” he told the publication.

He recommends an audit of the system, with the results made public, and suggests that an agency other than Mimos should handle the country’s fuel subsidy program.

An application to handle online transactions, in conjunction with MyDigital ID, is on the way, according to Jazri.

In the meantime, Malaysia needs to strengthen its data protection rules and enforcement, he says.

Article Topics

biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  data protection  |  digital ID  |  Malaysia  |  Mimos  |  MyDigital ID