Introduced as a mandatory app in August 2020, MySejahtera came under the spotlight last week when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) questioned its takeover by MySJ Sdn Bhd from KPISoft Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the local company that developed it.

Already the subject of long-standing concerns about personal data privacy, PAC’s finding that MySJ was appointed via direct negotiation to manage MySejahtera has just amplified those concerns.

Watch the video here.

“It’s time to delete your government tracking device #MySejahtera folks. It’s in private hands,” a Twitter user named @Trayset said.

“That’s it, I’m deleting MySejahtera,” said another user on Twitter with the handle @1Obefiend.

Twitter user @jllmisai said he was so frustrated reading about the app being sold or taken over that he uninstalled it straight away.

However, the user said he had to reinstall the app later in the day because the staff at a convenience store he wanted to visit would not allow him entry unless he scanned their MySejahtera QR code and showed his vaccination status.

In a statement yesterday, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin maintained that the app still belonged to Putrajaya, with the ministry appointed as the “main owner” of MySejahtera for the management of the nation’s public health.

Reiterating that the custodian of the data had always been the government, Khairy said the only issue was about the platform’s maintenance.

However, his explanations have not been enough to placate some social media users.

“At this point, I’m urging people to uninstall #MySejahtera until the government gives us solid (proof) that our personal data and location aren’t being exploited by private entities,” said @paws_nice on Twitter.

“Wanna talk about security threat? This is it! Not LGBT, not Netflix!”