He said the deal could also lead to the abuse of personal information obtained through the app, which was developed to manage the Covid-19 pandemic.
Anwar had earlier noted that in the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), health ministry officials had said the firm had no link to KPISoft Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the local company that developed the app.
Watch the video here.
However, he said, KPISoft had since changed its name to Entomo.
He also said that two of KPISoft’s founders were on the board of MySJ Sdn Bhd, the private firm that is taking over the app, while others on the board had political and business connections with parties in the government.
These included Shahril Shamsuddin, chief executive of Sapura Energy until May last year, and Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas, a former Umno divisional chief who became a senior member of Bersatu, said Anwar, who is president of PKR and chairman of Pakatan Harapan.
He noted that 71.2% of the shares in MySJ Sdn Bhd were owned by KPISoft’s founders, and said it would be dishonest to claim that there is no link between KPISoft/Entomo and MySJ Sdn Bhd. The link should be investigated, he said.
Anwar said that Putrajaya must come clean as to why the application was sold to a private firm instead of allowing it to remain under the purview of the health ministry.
The government must also explain why the deal was done via direct negotiations instead of going through an open tender.
“Why was MySJ Sdn Bhd the only company that was considered for the takeover? What are the scope of its operations and their expertise?
“And can the health ministry ensure the data that has been collected via the app will not be abused by a third party, including MySJ Sdn Bhd?” he said.
Anwar also questioned whether MySJ Sdn Bhd’s role and responsibilities included ensuring that the data shared by Malaysians through the app would not be used for marketing purposes and the development of products.
He pointed out that the government had given a guarantee that personal information obtained by MySejahtera would be used only for managing and curbing the spread of Covid-19 and would not be shared with any third party or transferred to a place outside of Malaysia for commercial purposes.
Earlier this week, the PAC questioned the takeover of the app, saying it raised concerns about whether KPISoft had sold its rights to the application to MySJ Sdn Bhd.
It also questioned why the contract was given to MySJ Sdn Bhd through direct negotiation, bypassing procurement protocols.