Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has clarified its collection of mobile phone data (MPD) from Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), assuring that no Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is accessed, processed, or disclosed. The clarification comes amid recent media reports regarding the matter.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, MCMC stated that MPD is used strictly for generating official statistics to support evidence-based policymaking in the ICT and Tourism Sectors. For the ICT Sector, MPD helps produce granular statistics, such as the number of active mobile broadband subscriptions and penetration rates at various administrative levels. In the Tourism Sector, it generates indicators such as the number of visitors and domestic tourism trips.
MCMC emphasized that the MPD data requested from MNOs is anonymised and contains no PII. MNOs can process the MPD data within their secure environment and submit the required anonymised and aggregated output to MCMC, or for MNOs without in-house processing capabilities, submit the anonymised data to MCMC for processing. In both scenarios, no individual subscriber can be identified through the data collected.
MCMC further clarified that the use of MPD as a new source of national statistics was a strategic direction set by the government to strengthen the quality and timeliness of statistical outputs for policy and planning purposes. The implementation of MPD is through collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science.
Over the past two years, extensive engagement with all MNOs has been carried out to ensure mutual understanding of the data requirements, processes, and privacy safeguards. This included the MPD National Workshop held from September 2 to 5, 2024, attended by representatives from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), ITU, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture, and MNOs including CelcomDigi, Maxis, TM Tech, U Mobile, and YTL.
MCMC highlighted that this initiative aligns with international best practices, mirroring projects in countries such as Indonesia and Brazil, where anonymised telecommunications data is used to enhance national statistics while fully safeguarding user privacy.