KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — The revelation by a foreign news agency that a Chinese company with reported links to military and intelligence networks in the country had collected data on 1,400 Malaysians, should be investigated.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the report had yet to be verified and an investigation was required prior to further action.

"Sometimes, we hear a lot of news in which the truth is not clear, so I have asked for this matter to be investigated first.

"Personal data should be protected, because we have the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 where the personal data of every individual in the country (Malaysians) is protected,” he told reporters after the handover ceremony of the Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures Compliance ‘Aku Janji’ pledge card in conjunction with the Perbadanan Nasional National Month Campaign here, today.

He was commenting on a report by an international news agency that a Chinese company, Zhenhua Data, had reportedly collected personal data on 2.4 million people, and that a database leak involving 250,000 individuals included 1,400 Malaysians.

Earlier during the ceremony, Ismail Sabri received the Covid-19 SOP Compliance ‘Aku Janji’ pledge card from the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Mentek.

The card was signed by 1,040 local franchisees, teachers and students of SMK Seri Pantai, Kampung Kerinchi and employees of Perbadanan Nasional. — Bernama