The New Straits Times
By Aidi Amin, Maizatul Ranai and Rozanna Latiff
By Aidi Amin, Maizatul Ranai and Rozanna Latiff
KUALA LUMPUR: The alleged leak of confidential text messages and telephone conversations of a woman is now being probed by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
The MCMC is checking to ascertain if the telecommunication company had committed any offence.
The directive to investigate came from Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim who said this case must be seen as a wake-up call for all telcos.
The MCMC is checking to ascertain if the telecommunication company had committed any offence.
The directive to investigate came from Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim who said this case must be seen as a wake-up call for all telcos.
"Call details and SMSes should never be released unless the customer's security is at risk," Dr Rais told the New Straits Times.
He was commenting on the RM20 million suit by Noor Haslina Abdullah, the chief executive officer of a private college in Terengganu, against the service provider, Celcom Axiata Bhd.
On Sunday, Noor Haslina had filed a suit against Celcom for allegedly releasing her private text messages and telephone exchanges with third parties.
"I am monitoring the situation closely as this is a serious allegation," Dr Rais said, adding that telcos must be careful when it comes to their customers' privacy.
Meanwhile, Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan said the release of private information should only be made through a court order or by a law enforcement agency.
"Private information should never be given out, not even to third party marketing agencies," Ragunath said.
He also called for an extension of the Personal Data Protection Bill to better protect the privacy of an individual.
While he welcomed the passage of the bill in April, he said the provisions were limited as they only protected information used in commercial transactions.
"Nowadays, many people will provide personal information in all sorts of situations, including on websites and social networks.
"We need a specific law to ensure this information will not be released or abused."
Ragunath added that the leak of an individual's personal information without his or her consent, or a request from a law enforcement agency, was a breach of contract which warranted severe penalties.
In her statement of claim, Noor Haslina, 39, said she suffered mental trauma as a result of the incident.
Noor Haslina had alleged that when she arrived at her office on March 11, she received a package which contained nine A4-size pages with information on her SMS exchanges and a pen drive containing recordings of her telephone conversations.
She lodged a police report several days later and filed the suit when there was allegedly no response from the telco.
He was commenting on the RM20 million suit by Noor Haslina Abdullah, the chief executive officer of a private college in Terengganu, against the service provider, Celcom Axiata Bhd.
On Sunday, Noor Haslina had filed a suit against Celcom for allegedly releasing her private text messages and telephone exchanges with third parties.
"I am monitoring the situation closely as this is a serious allegation," Dr Rais said, adding that telcos must be careful when it comes to their customers' privacy.
Meanwhile, Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan said the release of private information should only be made through a court order or by a law enforcement agency.
"Private information should never be given out, not even to third party marketing agencies," Ragunath said.
He also called for an extension of the Personal Data Protection Bill to better protect the privacy of an individual.
While he welcomed the passage of the bill in April, he said the provisions were limited as they only protected information used in commercial transactions.
"Nowadays, many people will provide personal information in all sorts of situations, including on websites and social networks.
"We need a specific law to ensure this information will not be released or abused."
Ragunath added that the leak of an individual's personal information without his or her consent, or a request from a law enforcement agency, was a breach of contract which warranted severe penalties.
In her statement of claim, Noor Haslina, 39, said she suffered mental trauma as a result of the incident.
Noor Haslina had alleged that when she arrived at her office on March 11, she received a package which contained nine A4-size pages with information on her SMS exchanges and a pen drive containing recordings of her telephone conversations.
She lodged a police report several days later and filed the suit when there was allegedly no response from the telco.
No comments:
Post a Comment