TRANSPARENCY International Malaysia, alarmed at a spate of leaks concerning the personal data of Malaysians, today asked the government for “transparent disclosure” on the progress of police investigations into the latest such event, this time in connection with the National Registration Department (NRD).

On May 17, an NRD dataset of Malaysians born between 1940 to 2004 was offered for sale online at the price of US$10,000 (RM44,000).

TI-Malaysia president Muhammad Mohan called for those responsible for the leak to be identified and for the government to reveal what it was doing to prevent the theft of personal data.

Muhammad, in a statement, said slammed the government for keeping silent on the problem.

“The government doesn’t seem to have the answers to such important questions being asked but is nevertheless answerable to the people for any failure to protect our data,” he said.

Home Affairs Hamzah Zainuddin yesterday said that only 44 government-linked agencies would be allowed to access the National Registration Department database.

Muhammad said Hamzah was shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Earlier this month, a cybersecurity expert was reported showing how easily accessible were the personal data of the employees involved in the Public-Private Covid-19 Industrial Immunisation Programme managed by the International Trade and Industry Ministry.

On June 13, news portal Soyacincau shared news of an OpenSource Intelligence Tool website that was was selling NRD and MySejahtera data.

The users who reported the site said the data were available for sale for as low as RM6.63 and that the seller also offered account holders the option to erase their details from the database for a price.

Muhammad said the government must clearly answer how personal data was being handled.

“The irony is our demands for transparency are responded with opacity and secrecy, while our personal data appears to be transparently available for picking,” he said.