A member of Parliament today expressed his fear that Malaysians’ dependency on popular navigation apps Google Maps and Waze could lead to sensitive information on the country to be collected by the governments of the United States and Israel.
UMNO MP Raime Unggi of Tenom, Sabah, said the mobile apps could be used to collect sensitive location-based information from local users for the governments under which the companies behind them are registered.
Google is a US company, while Google-owned Waze was invented by an Israeli firm.
“Malaysians are very dependent on Google Map(s) and Waze for location searching and this has indirectly provided information about Malaysia to external quarters such as the United States and Israel and it could lead to external threats,” Raime said.
In response to Raime’s remarks during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat, Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Jailani Johari said that it was up to Malaysian consumers to decide how much personal information they wished to share on connected apps, and that they should refrain from using these mobile services should they find their privacy policies disagreeable.
“We can’t consider all ICT as taboo as we will be left behind,” Jailani said, referring to information and communications technology.
“The real issue is that our users are fond of over-sharing private information on the internet. This results in the information being misused. As a smart internet user, we should have our own controls,” he added, as quoted by The Malay Mail Online‘s Boo Su-Lyn ad Yap Tzu Ging.
Still, Jailani said that should there be any serious concerns over the leakage of sensitive information from Malaysian users to foreign powers over connected apps, the Commnunications and Multimedia Ministry would work closely with the Home Ministry and the National Security Council to tackle such issues.
However, he noted that to date, his ministry has not received any reports on information abuse connected to the location-based apps.
“We have not received any complaints or issues arising connected to these websites, but if there is an application from any ministry or agency for technical consultation we will assist them,” he said.
Commenting on Raime’s remarks, Parti Amanah Rakyat MP Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli claimed that the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) would allow foreign governments to access Malaysian’s personal online data, such as those shared when they use Google Maps and Waze.
“This can be recorded and accessed in another country, our movement and the things that we have, our personal data. With TPP, we are exposed,” he cautioned.
