Of private data and public use

WHENEVER the government says it is collecting personal data, Malaysians get  the jitters. Can’t blame them. One thought that crosses the mind of some people is: is Big Brother keeping watch on us? The other and more common concern is about leakages, of which there have been far too many without any serious consequences to those who were responsible. Understandably, the recent announcement by Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil that Putrajaya is collecting phone call data from telecommunication companies for policymaking brought back the old anxiety, especially when they learnt that discussions between the government and the telcos have been going on since 2023. Phone call data is…