The government has no intention of cancelling the Mobile Phone Data (MPD) initiative, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil told Parliament, reaffirming that it complies with Cabinet decisions, domestic legislation and international standards. He insisted that no privacy violations have occurred since its implementation.
Responding to a query from Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah (PN-Langkawi) on whether the initiative would be scrapped, Fahmi explained that the MPD does not involve any personally identifiable information. The data provided by mobile network operators (MNOs), he said, is not classified as personal data under the Personal Data Protection Act 2010.
Fahmi also referred to a press conference held by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in June 2025, during which further details of the MPD were made public. “The MCMC is aware of public concerns over privacy,” he said. “However, the data shared by the MNOs is aggregated statistical output, not individual data.”
He added that these statistics are processed internally in a secure environment before being shared with the MCMC. According to information disclosed at the MCMC press conference, the data collected for the MPD initiative comprises only eight types of information, none of which includes names, MyKad numbers, or phone numbers.
Fahmi said the MPD provides accurate, granular, and near real-time data to support policy planning, particularly in telecommunications and tourism. He noted that the initiative is aligned with its original mandate, which includes applications in locations such as Langkawi.
(Source: The Star)
