Khen Han Ming said the US had been taking social media details of selected visitors to the country from the end of 2016, as part of a (president Barack) Obama-era move to curtail terrorism.
He said Thailand and Russia have been collecting social media identities from visitors. He said private companies in Malaysia had been asking for the social media accounts of prospective hires, as well.
“This is something necessary in order to enable government security agencies to vet the background of candidates for subversive elements.
“We need to realise and accept the fact that social media has a role in national security issues too, where it is now a common platform for terrorists and criminal groups to connect with each other.
“Besides that, it also gives law enforcement a better understanding of the personality of the candidate or subject.
“We need to understand, however, that social media vetting is not foolproof and has its flaws, and is just part of the bigger picture,” he told FMT.
Khen said in Thailand, for instance, foreigners residing in the country were asked to reveal not just their social media accounts, but also places such as shops, restaurants and clubs which they frequented.
He said the Thai authorities were doing this as part of their effort to combat terrorism.
Khen said while more governments around the world were expected to adopt the “new age” profiling of visitors through social media accounts, it had its fair share of disadvantages.
He said the most obvious were fake profiles and “curated” profiles designed to deceive authorities.
Khen said another issue was with the US government wanting visitors to give away the passwords to their accounts at the border.
Khen said, according to a Wall Street Journal report, the US Department of Homeland Security was considering even requiring visitors’ phones to be handed over for checks.
He said the checks might be excessive and unjustified and would just prevent travellers from taking their mobile phones to the US, or steer clear of travelling to the US.
“From a security expert point of view, I am against the move of giving away your passwords or your phone for scrutiny. If that is the case, will our government also demand login credentials of US citizens visiting Malaysia?
“This would compromise on foreign government economic security, cybersecurity, and national security. The first rule of online security is simple: Do not share your password.
“No government agency should undermine security, privacy, and other rights with a blanket policy of demanding passwords from individuals,” he said.
AFP reported that the new move, as part of President Donald Trump’s extreme vetting measures, will affect 10 million travellers per year.
The move comes after one of the attackers in a shooting incident in San Bernadino got a visa despite going on a “jihad” tirade on social media.
A US State Department document released on Friday states that visitors or would be immigrants must provide “identifiers” of social media accounts used in the past five years.
The announcement begins a 60-day period in which interested bodies and members of the public will be allowed to submit comments on the rule changes, which are expected to be approved on May 29.