KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — The government will table the Omnibus Act at Dewan Rakyat to allow sharing of data between all government agencies via the Malaysian Main Database (Padu).

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the Act was necessary as the Padu system is an integrated data gathering system that is easier to manage compared to existing data gathering systems.

"The Omnibus Act will not only ensure the (safety) of data sharing, but also that the process of data sharing is a legal mandate to guarantee Padu as a continuous database,” he said in reply to an additional question by Senator E. Aknan about whether the government was suggesting an Act to ensure Padu would be fully used by ministries and agencies during the question and answer session at Dewan Negara here today.

On May 15, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim agreed to set up Padu to combine household socio-economic information in the country to streamline the implementation of targetted subsidies.

Rafizi added that an integrated database would mean more secure data security, as data was currently managed differently in every ministry in the present system and management could not be integrated.

"A big and integrated system like this will allow the government to build expertise and better cyber security meaures,” he said in reply to an additional question by Senator Datuk Noraini Idris regarding the system’s security measures taken to curb hacking of personal details. — Bernama