In the event you haven’t heard but, Malaysia has a new Central Database Hub referred to as PADU, which stands for Pangkalan Data Utama in Malay. It’s been the buzzword of the previous week, with many Malaysians both scrambling to register themselves, or voicing their opposition to it on-line.
As for myself, I wasn’t too involved about it, not in the starting no less than. We’ve had a number of new governmental initiatives over the previous few years, and most of them haven’t majorly impacted my Gen Z day-to-day life.
However I’m nonetheless chronically on-line, which implies most native trending matters come by my method.
the debates towards it on-line, I discovered two recurring causes on why individuals don’t agree with it:
- They’ve confused PADU with MyDigital ID (one other new authorities initiative), and
- They’re fearful about their private data getting leaked
So I made a decision to do a little bit of sleuthing to deal with and debunk these fears. Right here what you should learn about PADU in a nutshell.
However first, what precisely is PADU?
PADU is exactly what it feels like—a database centre that collects info on native residents. It was developed in seven months via a collaboration between three primary authorities, specifically the Ministry of Financial system, Division of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), and Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Administration Planning Unit (MAMPU).
In accordance with the authorities, this new hub might be used to have a extra correct image of the nationwide family revenue.
Therefore, the concept for PADU is to present residents a hand in updating their private info. By registering your self on PADU’s website, you may replace and make sure 39 private data, together with present handle, variety of family members, and profession particulars.
These residing in distant places with out web entry aren’t not noted both. It was shared by the DOSM that in-person outreach programmes might be carried out to assist with the system’s handbook registration.
What does PADU actually imply for you?
The Minister of Financial system, Rafizi Ramli, defined in a report by The Star that the public is given a three-month interval (from January 2 till March 31) to replace and confirm their info in the database.
You might be questioning what occurs after this three-month interval, like will you not be capable to replace your info? We don’t know, sadly.
Based mostly on PADU’s FAQ web page, these eligible can solely replace their private data in the system throughout the interval set by the authorities. Maybe there may be one other window to replace your data in the future.
Nonetheless, all this isn’t obligatory. Rafizi has confirmed beforehand that no motion might be taken in the event you select to sit down out on this. However by opting out, your eligibility for focused subsidies might be decided in keeping with the info that’s presently obtainable in the authorities system.
Based mostly on an earlier report by New Straits Instances, the data on PADU is taken from about 270 governmental ministries, companies, and statutory our bodies. All are accomplished inside present data-sharing agreements.
Launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim final Tuesday (January 2), the objective of PADU is to make sure a extra environment friendly method of distributing assist, subsidies, and common social safety. This consists of the much-anticipated focused subsidies for petrol.
It’s additionally to see that the proper teams get the assist they want and to stop misuse of funds. However apart from that, the authorities claims it has the potential for:
- Strengthening catastrophe and disaster administration
- Guiding training and job mismatch points
- Serving to in strategic nationwide finances administration
- Turning into a catalyst for Digital Authorities
All issues that appear to be good for the nation and its individuals as a complete, proper?
So why the robust resistance towards PADU?
As of final Sunday (January 7), the DOSM reported that just about 800okay Malaysians have registered on PADU. And it’s reported that the native authorities is concentrating on 500,000 customers to entry PADU daily, and for 200,000 customers to replace their info every day.
However there’s nonetheless clear opposition from a large group of Malaysians, right here’s why:
1. Complicated PADU with MyDigital ID
One in all the causes is as a result of some individuals have confused PADU with MyDigital ID, a new Nationwide Digital Id initiative.
Primarily MyDigital ID is an internet system which assists in verifying and authenticating your ID in the digital age. This doesn’t imply it replaces your myKad although. As a substitute, it’s an extension to confirm your identification on-line.
In accordance with Malay Mail, MyDigital ID acts like a single sign-on authentication and works much like Google’s sign-in, the place it helps your credentials. However as a substitute of a Google account, it authenticates your identification whereas conducting enterprise in each authorities and personal sectors.
Elaborating additional on this, the Ministry of Science, Know-how, Innovation and Financial system (MOSTI) claims that it prevents identification fraud in on-line transactions.
It’s because in the non-public sector, MyDigital ID might supply a safe digital Know Your Buyer (e-KYC) course of, thereby eradicating the want for bodily IC and fingerprint verification. It’s most notably a sport changer for digital banks as new prospects can create financial savings accounts with much less problem.
On the authorities facet, the single unified Nationwide Digital ID would take away the want of registering totally different accounts on on-line authorities platforms. So you may entry all providers with only a single ID.
Subsequently, MyDigital and PADU will not be the similar factor. They serve totally different functions and performance in a different way in the system.
2. Is the Central Database Hub actually safe?
Final October, The Star shared an alarming CyberSecurity Malaysia report stating that the authorities sector skilled the best variety of data breaches (22%) in the first half of 2023.
Then in December 2023, Cybersecurity firm Surfshark ranked Malaysia as the eighth most breached nation in Q3 for the yr, with 494,699 leaked accounts.
Moreover that, there was additionally the latest PADU loophole netizens discovered final week, the place anybody might simply use one other particular person’s identification card (IC) quantity and register them with out the precise proprietor’s data.
Rafizi defined in a report by New Straits Instances that this concern was not discovered throughout the Safety Posture Evaluation (SPA). After realising this error, he reassured the public that PADU’s workforce took quick to rectify it inside the hour.
So you may see why some Malaysians are reluctant to belief that there received’t be one other breach of private data.
Preserving this in thoughts, Rafizi reassured the individuals final Friday (January 5) that they’re taking steps to stop this. To cut back the threat of data leakage, PADU might be positioned below the purview of civil servants as a substitute of third-party distributors.
Rafizi defined that in the previous, data leakages occurred when the authorities contracted third-party distributors to develop authorities data functions.
“The distinction is that civil servants might be sure by the Official Secrets and techniques Act 1972 (OSA), so in the event that they went towards it, they are often charged,” The Star recorded him saying at a press convention.
Must you or do you have to not register on PADU?
That’s completely as much as you.
However in the event you have a look at it from one other perspective, the authorities already possesses a great deal of private data about you regardless. Out of your beginning and medical data to your employment info, it’s largely (if not all) already logged into the system.
The one distinction with PADU is you could replace the system with the newest info. This manner, you may really achieve whichever authorities subsidies and programmes that you simply’re certified for.
And who is aware of? If the potential for PADU actually lives as much as the authorities’s claims, it’d even assist in nationwide disasters like the annual flood disaster.
- Study extra about PADU right here.
- Learn different articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups right here.
Featured Picture Credit score: PADU