KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has today sought allay public fears, explaining that the MySejahtera application used for Covid-19 contact tracing has never been sold to any private companies.

In a statement today, he also pledged that all Malaysians’ private data handled by the application is also safe, after the matter was raised by Port Dickson MP Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“MySejahtera is fully owned by the government with the Ministry of Health (MoH) as the main owner, including all the data received by MySejahtera. Data secrecy is guaranteed and the MoH will always ensure this aspect is not compromised,” Khairy said on Twitter.

In an official statement, Khairy also emphasised that the MySejahtera data is under the supervision of the MoH since it was first used, and that all data management will go through a data governance process that has been set by the MoH.

In this regard, he said that the use and management of MySejahtera data must comply with the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342), the Medical Act 1971 and international standards.

“Accordingly, MySejahtera data cannot be shared by the MoH with any government or private agency. 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.

“MoH hopes that the public will continue to use the MySejehtera application without hesitation. The confidentiality of public data is guaranteed and the MoH will always ensure that this aspect is not compromised,” he added.

In stressing that the government never sold the said application, Khairy said that November 26, 2021, the government has decided that the MySejahtera application is its property, and the ministry was appointed as the main owner of the application for the management of Malaysia’s public health system.

Khairy said that the government never made any payment to KPISOFT (M) Sdn. Bhd which developed MySejahtera during the period of use of this application from March 27, 2020 to March 31, 2021. This he said, is based on the company’s decision to offer the use of MySejahtera application to the government for a year, without any payment based on the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) principles.

Anwar yesterday raised concerns about the government’s plan to sell the MySejahtera application to a private firm he claimed is owned by known political cronies.

The planned sale was disclosed at a Public Accounts Committee hearing on March 24. An official from the MoH, which operates the smartphone application, informed the panel that the Cabinet had approved the sale on November 26, 2021, via a direct tender.

In a statement on his Facebook page yesterday, Anwar said the company awarded the tender was MySJ Sdn Bhd whose directors include two founders of KPISoft, MySejahtera’s developers. KPISoft has since changed its name to Entomo.

Anwar alleged that the directors have no expertise in operating a software/information technology business, which should raise questions about the planned sale.

The opposition leader also alleged that Health Ministry officers who testified in front of the PAC had suggested that MySJ Sdn Bhd is not related to KPISoft, which built MySejahtera as a corporate social responsibility initiative.

He suggested the information was inaccurate because 81.4 per cent of MySJ Sdn Bhd is owned by another company, Revolusi Asia Sdn Bhd of which 88 per cent is owned by the founders of KPISoft.

The MySejahtera Covid-19 tracker app’s development was subjected to intense public scrutiny, first over its cost, and later over data privacy concerns.

How much the government has paid for the app remains unclear, but Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin said RM70 million had been allocated for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme’s (NIP) data integration and appointment system.

Anwar suggested selling the application to a private company could raise “substantial” risk of abuse of private health related data about millions of Malaysians.

He urged the government to explain the decision made to sell MySejahtera to a company in the private sector instead of allowing the application to remain under the control of MoH, and why a public tender was not conducted to make the sale transparent.

The former finance minister said Putrajaya must also clarify why MySJ Sdn Bhd is the only company under consideration for the takeover.