KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 — The National Security Council (NSC) said it has not endorsed the “Gerak Malaysia” app publicised as a Covid-19 contact tracing tool.
The NSC said on Twitter that it has not yet evaluated the app designed to help trace and analyse users’ movement nationwide to contain the spread of the pandemic.
“NSC has not evaluated or endorsed Gerak Malaysia. NSC is currently working with Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (MOSTI) to integrate MySejahtera and MyTrace applications,” it said.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin explained that the app has not been endorsed because of its location tracking ability, but said efforts were ongoing to see if its functionality could be included in other applications.
“We are discussing what features can be integrated in MySejahtera and MyTrace,” he said on Twitter.
Earlier today, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced that it was testing the beta version of Gerak Malaysia.
The app is an initiative by the MCMC with the support from the Malaysian telcos. Gerak Malaysia is developed based on the same contact tracing models that are being implemented in South Korea and in China.
To sign up, all it requires is a couple of basic details. It needs your mobile number with TAC verification, full name, IC number, address and email. Once that’s done, you’ll just need to keep the app running.
Since it tracks your location, you would need to grant the app permission to access your phone’s GPS.
The only function after the registration process is a QR code generator. This would be helpful for both medical frontliners as well as authorities enforcing the MCO.
