Any move to share the data collected through public resources with any private organisation must be done on the basis of public interest, and this should serve as the guiding principle in the government’s handling of any matter pertaining to MySejahtera.

Today, Malaysia officially transitions to the Covid-19 endemic phase with national borders reopened and anti-virus SOPs remarkably relaxed.

Meanwhile, controversies continue over MySejahtera’s ownership as well as fears over possible abuse of data privacy. It is also hotly debatable whether this app is still relevant now.

Concerns over the app’s possible leak of confidential data for commercial use were first raised in Parliament by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, followed by Umno’s Mohamad Hasan calling for an end to MySejahtera’s “surveillance” function.

The Umno deputy president also said the health ministry must clearly explain the motive behind the app’s continued use as well as the capability of the company managing it, given the fact this entails the confidential personal and health data of millions of Malaysians, which must never be compromised.

The Public Accounts Committee will hold another hearing on MySejahtera’s development and acquisition in mid-April, when finance minister Tengku Zafrul and health minister Khairy Jamaluddin are expected to be summoned.

In the meantime, Khairy took the initiative to attend the senators’ meeting on Thursday to debate on the controversies surrounding MySejahtera’s ownership and personally take questions from the attendees. The minister should be given a big thumbs-up for taking this issue seriously and for his firm attitude in resolving it.

Such concerns have very soon reached the general population with calls on social media to uninstall the app as a means to express public frustration over the government’s lack of transparency in the development and procurement of this app, on top of possible leak of highly confidential personal data of the users.

Anyway, the app is currently still needed for members of the public when visiting malls and other businesses and as a proof of vaccination.

Indeed, as we transition to the endemic phase, it will be no more relevant for contact tracing and therefore the continued use of MySejahtera.

We did need the app to help contain the rapid spread of the virus at the height of the pandemic, but as we begin to live with the virus, its use may no longer be necessary.

Where this is concerned, Khairy’s attitude is one of caution, saying his ministry will require a month’s time to evaluate the necessity for the public to scan their MySejahtera app based on the virus’ transmissibility and spread following the reopening of national borders and relaxation of anti-virus SOPs, which is a move in the right direction.

This is because April will also mark the Muslim fasting month when physical bazaars will open for business with drastically increased human movements, not to mention the reopening of our borders, in particular the one between Johor and Singapore that will see a flood of people thronging into the country without the need for Covid tests or mandatory quarantine, making the MySejahtera app still very much practical for the time being.

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) feels that MySejahtera’s tracking function is no longer that effective now compared to last time, but given its widespread use by Malaysians, the app should still be retained for use in future when the need arises.

The association’s president Dr Koh Kar Chai has proposed to convert the app to a tool for personal health records retrievable by healthcare personnel.

A centralized general population health record management system is what is dearly lacking in the country’s healthcare system, and this is indeed where MySejahtera can come in handy as an electronic means to store an individual’s medical history.

While this is a great idea that definitely warrants some consideration, it nevertheless involves the management of an enormous cache of the users’ personal data and relatively high maintenance cost.

Any change to MySejahtera’s use and functionality upgrade should be put on hold until the ownership and contract amount have been thrashed out by the government.

Additionally, the government ought to be constantly reminded that it is not the owner of public data but rather a trustee of it. The government is duty-bound to harness the data for public well-being, not to generate profits.

Any move to share the data collected through public resources with any private organisation must be done on the basis of public interest, and this should serve as the guiding principle in the government’s handling of any matter pertaining to MySejahtera.