SHAH ALAM - The health ministry has denied allegations that it had sold the MySejahtera Contact Tracing application to a private company, adding that it has been under the ministry since it was first used.
Minister Health Khairy Jamaluddin said on Nov 26 last year, Putrajaya had decided that the application is "the property of the government and health ministry was appointed as the main owner of this application."
"The government did not make any payment to KPISOFT (M) Sdn. Bhd who had developed MySejahtera application from March 27, 2020 to March 31, 2021.
"This is based on the company's decision to allow the government to use the App for one year without any payment. It is based on the company's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," Khairy said in a statement.
Several days ago, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim questioned the takeover of the MySejahtera application by a private firm via direct negotiation, saying it raised concerns about personal data management. Anwar had said the deal could also lead to the abuse of personal information obtained through the app, which was developed to manage the Covid-19 pandemic.
Khairy said the App uses "software as a service" or SaaS approach, as it reduces the time required to develop new software to handle Covid-19. "The application is also a robust and dynamic platform because it is able to accommodate any improvements," he added.
The government, he said continues to work with the company to improve the functions in the MySejahtera app. "It now has 10 modules and a total of 38 million registered users consisting of citizens, non-citizens and travelers," he added.
He said the government's decision on 26 November also includes setting up a Price Negotiation Committee consisting of relevant agencies to negotiate procurement price and to manage application services with the company for the next two years.
Khairy said the acquisition and management of MySejahtera applications include the platform, module development, maintenance, data centre management and services provided by third parties - including Google Map, Places Application Programming Interface (API) services and short services messaging service (SMS).
"Subsequently, the finance ministry through a letter dated 28 February 2022, agreed to approve the health ministry's application to implement procurement of MySejahtera application," he said.
Khairy further said the MySejahtera data must comply with the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342), the Medical Act 1971 and international standards.
Due to that, the MySejahtera data cannot be shared by the ministry with any government or private agency, he said.
"In addition, data transactions from the MySejahtera application are uploaded to the cloud server network every day and can only be accessed for the use of the MySejahtera application only.
"The health ministry hopes that the public will continue to use the MySejehtera application without hesitation. The confidentiality of public data is guaranteed and the ministry will always ensure that this aspect is not compromised," Khiary added.