ALOR SETAR (Dec 4): The government has assured that the integrity of data, especially the people’s information of this country, will always be safeguarded, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He said that so far, no incident of identity card or MyKad data leakage has been reported and he called on the people to be careful about the dissemination of unverified information.

"There is an allegation of a data leak involving 17 million identity cards, which has gone viral on social media. I have asked the National Registration Department (JPN) and the information technology security division to investigate this matter.

"So far, no incident of leakage has been reported. The government guarantees that the integrity of data, especially the people’s information, is always maintained," he told reporters after visiting the temporary evacuation centre (PPS) at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Tinggi near here, on Wednesday.

He was commenting on a media report on Wednesday which said that the identity card or MyKad data of 17 million Malaysians was allegedly leaked and sold on dark web.

According to the report, users of X site, Fusion Intelligence Center @ StealthMole claimed that samples of Malaysian MyKads had been shared openly on the dark web.

Meanwhile, Saifuddin Nasution said the government would expand the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) Act if there was a need in other agencies.

"The IPCC was first enforced on July 1, this act currently only involves the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM). Although there is hope that it would be expanded to all enforcement agencies, the decision at the time was to prioritise PDRM.

"The administration is now open to improving the act in the future if there is a need to involve other agencies," he said.

On Tuesday, the media reported that 529 complaints had been received by the IPCC as of Nov 22, since the IPCC Act 2022 (Act 839) was enforced on July 1 last year, including criminal cases referred to the PDRM, corruption cases channelled to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), while conduct cases will be investigated by the IPCC.

The IPCC is a federal statutory body established under Section 3 of Act 839 and gazetted on Oct 18, 2022, exercising its functions and powers as an independent monitoring body over the police force in terms of investigating complaints related to misconduct.

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