KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Negara was informed on Thursday (Nov 30) that the government has no plans to collect fingerprints as part of the National Digital Identity (NDID) programme, despite claims made by various content creators on social media platforms.
Fahmi Fadzil, the Communications and Digital Minister, addressed the issue, stating that since the announcement of the programme by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, there has been a significant amount of inaccurate and misleading information spread on social media, alleging that the government would be collecting fingerprints.
He clarified, “Even though the NDID programme falls under Mimos and not the Communications and Digital Ministry, I would like to take this opportunity to make it clear that we do not have any intention to collect fingerprints. The Digital ID is a single sign-on initiative, and that is what we are trying to convey to the public.
“Fingerprint information and other biometric identifiers fall under the purview of the Home Ministry and the National Registration Department,” he added in response to Senator Manolan Mohamad.
Prior to this, the Communications and Digital Ministry had also assured that the NDID would not compromise the security of people’s personal data. It was mentioned that the initiative has been successfully implemented in several countries such as Estonia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
On Nov 21, Anwar announced the appointment of Mimos Berhad, the national research and development centre, as the implementing agency for the NDID programme with an initial allocation of RM80mil.
According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the NDID allows citizens to transact in the digital realm with service providers from the public and private sectors for secure and time-saving identity verification, both face-to-face and remotely.- Bernama
