MALAYSIA’S internet regulator said it ordered the removal of an article on an alleged massive breach of  personal data on online forum Lowyat.net because of a miscommunication and is now investigating the violation of data privacy.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak said police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) are trying to identify the third parties who supplied and attempted to sell the information online.

“The matter is under investigation. What is important is not just trying to identify the source of the information but the individual involved,” Salleh said during the Dewan Rakyat’s question-and-answer session today.

He was answering a supplementary question from M. Kulasegaran (Ipoh Barat-DAP) on MCMC’s order to Lowyat.net to remove an article titled Personal data of millions of Malaysians up for sale, sources of breach still unknown.

Lowyat.net said it had no choice but to post the article after its alerts to the ministry to act on the matter went unheeded.

Salleh said this arose from a “misunderstanding”, which is now settled.

Earlier, Teo Nie Ching (Kulai-DAP) asked why MCMC censored the online forum for reporting on the breach.

The article that was removed on MCMC’s orders on October 19 said the personal data of millions of Malaysians were leaked from a recruitment portal, medical associations and telecommunication companies.

The data, including names, billing addresses, mobile numbers and MyKad numbers, were allegedly stolen between 2012 and 2015.

MCMC was criticised by rights activists for violating freedom of speech and for censoring the internet. – October 26, 2017.