‘Provide answers to Insan issue at once’, Hamzah tells Anwar
SHAH ALAM - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is urged to give an immediate answer on the personal data leak involving the Selangor General Insurance Scheme (Insan).
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said Anwar as the Finance Minister must respond to the issue as there were claims of breach of governance under the Financial Services Act 2013 that made it a criminal offence to illegally register a consumer in a financial service without the knowledge and consent of the nominee.
“Could the violation of governance be ignored? It is even more extreme if there were such policies issued under the name of a deceased,” he said in a Facebook post, today.
Hamzah said it had been over a month since the issue was exposed, but the Finance Minister had kept quiet.
“It was odd that the Finance Minister with his capabilities to be rhetorical and speak was suddenly silent when there’s a clear violation of governance in the Insan scandal.
“The Finance Minister must prove that he truly opposed the direct negotiation of the project as mentioned repeatedly.
“Insan was suggested to be manned by Selgate which was a Selangor GLC due to licencing, financial and expertise factors, but it was sidelined. Why would a private company with questionable backgrounds be chosen without an open tender,” he said.
Hamzah who is Perikatan Nasional (PN) secretary-general wanted Anwar to provide answers to the issue if he was truly fighting for the public as what was echoed by Pakatan Harapan (PH) supporters.
“Is it true that there’s a crime under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2010 where individuals’ personal data obtained from the Election Commission (EC) by the Selangor government for election purposes were handed over to a company for commercial purposes without the consent and knowledge of the owner?,” he said.
He added the public did not want their personal data to be misused by irresponsible parties.
“Don’t ignore an issue as big as this which is right under your (Anwar) nose and instead you focus on the smallest issues to be made a political mileage.
“Look in front of you as there are those who had voiced it out on what is happening. This is a serious allegation that must be proven otherwise by him,” he said.
Hamzah explained that a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and police were lodged and he believed that all the information had reached the Finance Minister’s office.
“If the Finance Minister is slow (to respond) to this scandal, I can still understand as he is a 'political animal', but the government agency is not a political institution.
“For example, MACC with its great track record especially in investigating the accusations against PN leaders have no reason not to investigate it. The public is watching,” he said.
Insan which was introduced by the state last year was now a heated topic after several individuals claimed that their names were registered outside their knowledge.
There were accusations of a personal data breach when family members who were deceased were registered as a recipient to the scheme.
Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the data containing the names, addresses and identification card numbers were public and could be bought from the EC for the purpose of Insan preregistration.
He said all the names in the scheme must confirm their identification card numbers and a selfie as a sign to allow the registration.
Amirudin’s explanation had raised questions on the automatic registration process that should not occur as the financial product was subjected to certain acts.
What was even more concerning was the insurance documentation had an expiry date as well as ‘policy activated’ written instead of ‘preregistration’.
Questions were also raised on the possibility of a violation of the PDPA 2010.
Insan is a personal accident insurance policy which is set to provide six million individuals in the state aged between 30 and 80 whose premiums are covered fully by the state government.
