Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the custodian of the data had always been the government, adding that maintenance of the platform was the only issue.
Yesterday, Khairy said the government had not sold the MySejahtera app to any private firm.
In a statement, Khairy maintained that the app still belonged to Putrajaya, with the health ministry appointed as the “main owner” of MySejahtera for the management of the nation’s public health.
He also said all MySejahtera data were handled by the ministry, assuring users that their information cannot be shared with other government agencies or the private sector.
This comes after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) questioned the takeover of the MySejahtera app by MySJ Sdn Bhd from KPISoft Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the local company that had developed it.
“The government maintains that for MySejahtera, the data inside the app is owned by the government and that is the basis of our negotiations with MySJ Sdn Bhd,” Khairy said to reporters at a book launch.
Khairy added that many parties had asked the ministry to use MySejahtera for commercial purposes.
“I did not allow that. This is because the data can only be used for Covid-19 purposes and for public health purposes.”
Asked about the possibility of a settlement agreement based on the concept of a public-private partnership (PPP) framework, Khairy said the government was taking a cautious stance to avoid the issue of misuse of users’ personal data.
He said the PPP concept could be considered if the details of the agreement with MySJ would not be included for commercialisation purposes.
“This means that the IT department of the ministry will not maintain MySejahtera. We do not have the capacity to do so.
“Most government departments outsource platform maintenance to third parties.
“So, from a PPP point of view, we can consider, but from a PPP point of view to commercialise data, that can’t be done.”
He also said the government was still negotiating with MySJ on the terms of subscribing the services of the MySejahtera app.
Khairy said the deal between the app’s original developer Entomo (previously known as KPISoft) and MySJ, as well as their court case, had nothing to do with the government’s negotiations.
He said the amount that the ministry was negotiating with MySJ was far lower than the RM300 million reported.
Earlier, health portal CodeBlue reported that the MySejahtera app would be sold by Entomo to MySJ for RM338.6 million.
It said the amount is for a deal for the transfer of intellectual property of the app and the licensing fees for the software.
Currently, P2 Asset Management Sdn Bhd, a MySJ shareholder, is suing Entomo, Revolusi Asia Sdn Bhd (another MySJ shareholder) and MySJ for alleged breach of a share sale agreement.
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