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OP news source, .......

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/ar...rivacy-concerns - Malaysia orders telecoms firms to hand over user data, raising privacy concerns
The government claims it’s for a mobile project, but critics cite data security risks
- 6 June 2025
The Malaysian government has ordered the country’s telecommunications firms to hand over detailed records of phone calls and internet usage, according to industry sources, raising concerns about the state’s use of data as it broadens its controls over online activity.

In April, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission sent a letter to telecoms companies instructing them to send detailed call and internet logs for the first three months of this year, apparently for the government’s Mobile Phone Data project, two industry sources confirmed.

Non-compliance would be considered an offence under the Communications and Multimedia Act, which carries a penalty of a 20,000 ringgit (US$4,700) fine or six months' jail, the commission said in the letter seen by This Week in Asia.

“They are asking for call records, IP call records, location, latitude and longitude,” one source said. “We have asked MCMC about transparency and accountability for the use of the data. We don’t know if MCMC will make a public statement that such an exercise is under way.”

The MCMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration imposed mandatory licensing for social media platforms in January in a bid to stamp out scams, online gambling and child sex exploitation targeted at Malaysians.

The requirement for telecoms companies to send usage data of their customers increases data security risks, experts warn.

Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said in March that TikTok and online messaging platforms WeChat and Telegram had secured their licences while platforms under Meta – which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – as well as Google and X were in the process of obtaining them.

But even before mandatory licensing, authorities had already detained dozens of people, including opposition members and government critics, for allegedly uploading content deemed offensive to race, religion or royalty – the so-called three Rs – which the government considers red lines.

Malaysia also has a poor record of online and data security, with numerous breaches reported in recent years.

Last month, the personal WhatsApp account of Interior Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was hacked by “irresponsible groups”, his ministry said, prompting ridicule from Malaysians regarding the effectiveness of security agencies.

A US$10 million ransom attack in March paralysed some operations at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the country’s main point of entry.

In one of the worst cases, the personal data of 22.5 million citizens, including full names, personal identification numbers, home addresses, and ID photos, was stolen from government servers in 2022 and sold on the dark web.
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US style also similar to CCP style but more honest/honorable and the powerful US government has to go through FISA court judges for access to such private data like call records and IP addresses, .......

Gemini AI Overview

The 2001 USA PATRIOT Act aims to prevent terrorism by enhancing law enforcement and intelligence agencies' capabilities to investigate and prosecute terrorist activities, including those involving fraud. It also strengthens measures to prevent and disrupt money laundering and terrorist financing.

OTOH, the USA Patriot Act had been abused a few times by the powerful US administration, eg Pres. Obama playing politics by using the FBI to wiretap Trump Tower telecommunications on the pretext of suspected Russian collusion, ie the Christopher Steele Dossier = the Justice Dept detected business/funding crimes by the Trump election campaign team but not Russian collusion = prosecutor Robert Mueller effectively crippled Trump's 1st term in office from Jan 2017-Jan 2021.

Will the above MCMC Law also be abused for political purposes.?
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This post has been edited by lurkingaround: Jun 6 2025, 06:44 PM

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AFAIK, anonymized data can later be de-anonymized.
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Latest news update: .......

https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2...tion-initiative - MCMC: Only eight data types required from telcos in Mobile Phone Data collection initiative - 9 June 2025
CYBERJAYA: Mobile network operators are only required to provide eight types of data in the Mobile Phone Data (MPD) collection initiative, according to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

"No personally identifiable information such as IC number, name or phone number are collected," said MCMC deputy managing director Datuk Zurkarnain Mohd Yasin during a media briefing today (June 9).

He explained that the data collected include MSISDN (mobile station international subscriber directory number), which MCMC also termed as "anonymised subscribers' identifier"; unique ID; and the longitude as well as longitude data of telco towers.

Also collected are data on the date and time of each transaction; data type (call detail records or Internet protocol detail records); type of network (2G, 4G or 5G) and mobile country code (country identifier to distinguish between local or international subscriptions).

The data will be collected and stored on premise in MCMC for three years, he added. ...

https://commsbrief.com/difference-between-i...msisdn-numbers/ - Difference Between IMEI, IMSI, ICCID And MSISDN Numbers
September 20, 2019
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	What is it linked to?	What does it look like?
IMEI	Phone	15 digits all numeric
IMSI	SIM	15 digits all numeric
ICCID	SIM	~20 digits all numeric
MSISDN	SIM	Full mobile number with country code and all prefixes

...

What Is The MSISDN Number And How To Find It?
MSISDN stands for Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number, and it is just your complete mobile phone number with the country code and any prefixes that are part of your mobile number. It is used for identifying your mobile phone number for calls, text messages and mobile data. ...

???
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This post has been edited by lurkingaround: Jun 10 2025, 12:15 AM

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Seems, the telcos have converted the MSISDN (Malaysian) 12-digit mobile and fixed phone no. into a unique 8-digit code by using their own conversion formula, before submission to the MCMC.
....... Does MCMC also has this conversion formula, eg to de-anonymize the above sample MSISDN 8-digit code into an identifiable mobile/fixed phone no. .?

Mobile phone no., eg U Mobile = +6018XXXXXXX
Fixed phone no., eg TM Unifi Home = +603XXXXXXXX
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This post has been edited by lurkingaround: Jun 10 2025, 01:52 PM

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Fyi, .......

https://www.lowyat.net/2025/355143/telcos-r...data-statement/ - Telcos Respond To MCMC’s Statement On Mobile Phone Data Collection
The companies affirm that they are fully committed to safeguarding customer privacy.
BY HEIRUL KAMEL JUNE 8, 2025
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https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/758340 - Cabinet approved mobile data collection in 2023; no opt-out for Malaysians — MCMC
= how come this was not reported in the news in 2023.? This was only reported by SCMP, a China/HK news media, a few days ago.
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Fyi, .......

https://soyacincau.com/2025/06/10/mcmc-mobi...c-consultation/ - MCMC Mobile Phone Data: A look into its data sample, lack of public consultation, no opt out option
BY Chief Chapree, 10 June 2025, 6:12 pm
= media session hosted by the MCMC.

https://soyacincau.com/2025/06/09/mobile-ph...letter-to-mcmc/ - An Open Letter to MCMC: What Does Privacy Mean to You?
News report BY Amin Ashaari, 9 June 2025, 9:55 am
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