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20 April 2013 was the day where Malaysia 13th General Election officially start. Even though, it has been months, even years of campaigning by all political parties. Everyone was eagerly awaits the announcement by the Prime Minister in dissolving the parliament. The excitement was to the roof but not to the level of euphoria. That has to wait of course until the ballots been counted on 5 May 2013.

The excitement of campaigning had led to cyberwar between political parties and their supporters. The last election where the political tsunami occured, political analysts had agreed that the social medias have played their part significantly. The PR used the social media to reach out to the people. It is very effective because for the first time, they denied BN 2/3 majority. BN use the traditional media excessively and the impact was mediocre.

Now, with the overwhelming result in the last election, social media has become a must in political campaign. According to socialbaker.com, the provider of social media analytic and statistic tool, there are 13,376,060 total Facebook users in Malaysia placing it in the rank of top 20 nations in the world. That is almost half of the population in Malaysia. The top four popular political figures in Malaysia are Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad (2,074,114 fans), Dato' Sri Mohammad Najib Abdul Razak (1,610,194 fans), Dato' Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (899,222 fans) and Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim (496,554 users).

With this large number of netizen, ethics in information shared in the social media should be observed. You cannat simply post or share news or articles that you read in the social media and share the information without verifying it. Furthermore, you cannot share the article without the consent of the owner of the information.

Verify the Information

The information should be verify unless it is from a trusted sources for example Reuters, AFP, Bernama and the like. These are the news agencies that have a very high reputation in providing news. You cannot simply share the information that you read in a blog, and later distribute the news by clicking the share button on the Facebook or Twitter. According to Patzakis (2012), there has been 689 cases in United States involved social media, MySpace (315 cases), Facebook (304 cases), LinkedIn (39 cases) and Twitter (30 cases). 

A news or article that has no evidence or fact to support the allegation is consider as a libel. Libel is part of defamation in written or printed form. It is a tort and making it liable for civil suit for damages if the person can prove that the news or article is a lie.

Consent from the owner

You must get the consent from the owner before distributing or sharing the information. The article is consider to be the intellectual property of the author through the Copyright Act. Unless there is written clause from the author that allows the article to be disributed.

Can the Social Media be held responsible?

One should read the terms and conditons written before you click and wrap the agreement with the social media. For example, Facebook has a Statement of Rights and Responsibilities that specify the sharing of the content and information. It also has a clause on dispute that read:

"If anyone brings a claim against us related to your actions, content or information on Facebook, you will indemnify and hold us harmless from and against all damages, losses, and expenses of any kind (including reasonable legal fees and costs) related to such claim. Although we provide rules for user conduct, we do not control or direct users' actions on Facebook and are not responsible for the content or information users transmit or share on Facebook. We are not responsible for any offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful or otherwise objectionable content or information you may encounter on Facebook. We are not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, or any user of Facebook."

By this term, the Facebook is disclaiming itself from user's action and conduct of sharing the content or information on its platform.

You are responsible for your own action

The obligation to answer or for the action and conduct done fall under the person who perfrom the action. You cannot simply click the share button with intention to distribute and then claiming that you are not responsible for it. You will be held liable to the action.

Be very careful when you sharing and distributing the information on the social media. Especially in this current situation within Malaysia. A lot of sensitive contents been shared in the social media. Be smart. Before you share, investigate the sources of the information. If you are confident that the information has not been doctored, then, just share it. But, be responsible. Why do you want to share the information if you do not find it useful to others?

References:

https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10151420037600301

http://blog.x1discovery.com/2012/03/14/689-published-cases-involving-social-media-evidence-with-full-case-listing/

http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/malaysia

Sharing personal information: Between prudent and negligent

Information shared on the internet is been tremendously done by everybody that have access to the internet. With the accessibility of the internet and the introduction of smart phone and tablet PC, it has increase the magnitude of information sharing. One of the medium use to share the information is the social media like Facebook and Twitter.

Nowadays, people use social media to share personal information and activities without realizing that they are sharing an important information to the possible criminals in the cyber network. You do not need to be a hacker or have a specific skills to get the information, you just search for the information in the internet. 

In social media, the web application allow you to specify your relationship with your family and relatives. Some give complete information about the family circles by specifying a person as your parents, your father and your sisters. Some share the information of birthday, workplace, home address, email and even telephone. All of these information should be kept private and undislosed. There are some exhibitionist who like to share everything, from favourite foods, interest, boyfriend, girlfriend and such.

In Malaysia, if you are making online purchase or transaction, the verification will cover the personal information. The banks will ask your date of birth, your last working experience, name of your mother and the like. After the banks have verified the information, the transaction will go to as the information given are valid. So, be very careful in disclosing your personal information, better yet, let it be in your head.

Some of these infomation you should kept to yourself to avoid the case of negligence or make it discreet and prudent:

• Birthday date
• Working experience
• Home address
• Mother's name

Some of the information on your personal interest can be used by the cyber criminal to guess your password. To ensure your password secure, try to use symbols and random numbers. Some of the cyber criminals will use 'Forget Password' function so that the system will ask a secret question that usually will involve your interest. For example, what is your favorite football club or what is your favorite TV series. Be cautious and self aware. 

These tips are based on my own personal experience dealing with banks on online or telephone transaction. Stop be an exhibitionist in the social media and start being a prudent person.

MyKad and Personal Data Protection

MyKad has been introduced in 2001 as part of the multi purpose card initiative under the MSC Flagship Application. MyKad has been used to replace the old plastic laminated document as an identification card for the citizen of Malaysia age 12 and above. The size of MyKad is similar to the size of ATM card and credit card. It is a plastic card that has a chip embedded to inside the card that stores personal data and applications that include the following:

• National ID;
• Driving License;
• Passport Information;
• Health Information;
• Touch n Go;
• MEPS Cash;
• ATM; and
• Public Key Infrastucture (PKI).

MyKad is produce by the National Registration Department (NRD) to all Malaysia Citizen. NRD also introduce similar card and fuctionality that includes:

• MyKid: For the Malaysia Citizen age 12 and below including newborns;
• MyPR: For those who has been granted the Malaysia permanent resident status;
• MyTentera: For Malaysian Armed Forces personnel;
• MyPolis: For Royal Malaysian Police personnel.

The advantage of MyKad is due to its functionality. As my Mykad store the personal information of an individual. most of the verification purpose is done through MyKad. For example, before this due to immigration regulation, those from Peninsular Malaysia travelling to Sabah and Sarawak must produce a passport before entering the states. Now, the Malaysia citizens from Peninsular Malaysia do not need to use the passport to enter Sabah and Sarawak because verification of identity can be done through MyKad and smart reader. All the commercial banks in Malaysia use MyKad for verification purpose. Any transaction that been done at the counter must go through the personal data verification using MyKad, smart card reader and thumb scanner. MyKad is slot in the reader and verification of data is been done by scanning the thumb.

In Malaysia, it is a common practice to leave the MyCard at the security counter before a person is allow to enter a guarded premise. This practice can be seen in most of the buildings in Malaysia. The person then will be given a visitor pass to enter the premise and after completed his/her business, the MyKad will be return by exchanging it with the visitor. One must wonder what happen if the person or organization who receive the MyKad use a smart card reader or any other devices that can access, view and even download the information within the chip.

In 2004, BAR Council has urged the Government to introduce the law that can protect the personal data from unauthorized use, misuse or abuse of personal data. the council also urged that the law must imposed to the recipient of the personal data to safeguard the personal data. The information should only be used for the specific purpose allow by the owner of the data.

In 2010, Personal Data Protection Act 2010 [Act 709] has been gazzetted. The law regulate the processing of personal data in commercial transactions and to provide for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. It applies to any person who process and who has control over or authority the processing of any personal data in respect of commercial transaction. The act by itself only concern on the commercial transaction and not apply to the Federal Government and State Governments. It also concern on data that been processed inside Malaysia.

As the MyKad suppose to store the information on health (referring to the plan in the Multi Purpose Card Initiative), the act also cover the sensitive personal data that include personal data consisting of information as to the physical or mental health or condition of a data subject. Sensitive personal data also include political opinions and his religious believe.

The law interpret commercial transaction as any matter relates supply and exchange of good or services, agency, investments, financing, banking and insurance. But it does not include a credit reporting business carried out by a credit reporting agency under Credit Reporting Agencies Act 2010. That means you financial history with any commercial bank or credit is not consider personal data, therefore, CTOS and CCRIS are not cover under this act.

Even though that the law on data protection has been gazzetted, one must be very careful in not to reveal the personal information through MyKad. Do not give your MyKad as an exchange of visitor pass as you have the right not to do so. Give alternative identification instead, for example the driving license, employee card or student card for that matter. It is best to be self-aware of the consequences rather that having our personal data been misused.

References:

Bukhari, K.Z., 2004, MyKad & Privacy Rights, The Malaysian Bar, Bar Council,  http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=989

National Registration Agency, My Kad, http://www.jpn.com.my/docs/MyKad.htm

Personal Data Protection Act 2010, accessed from http://www.kpkk.gov.my/pdf/Personal%20Data%20Protection%20Act%202010.pdf

http://nurelimtiaz.uitm.edu.my/wordpressfolder-elimtiaz/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/MSC.pdf

Are all the pictures posted on the Internet copyrighted?

Suppose that on one fine day, you randomly search the internet for fun and you found a picture of a flower that you like. Later, you save the picture on your computer, edit the picture with few words of wisdom and upload it on the social network. Your friend like the picture that you posted and later share it among his or her friends. Then, it became viral. Suddenly, you receive a message from the owner of the picture saying that you have distributed the picture without his/her consent and will take legal action against you. Now, what will you do? We shall look into this case through law. Are all the pictures posted in the Internet are copyrighted? Can we consider the picture to be public? It looks simple, but I'm just creating a situation for the sake of discussion.

First the issue of copyright. Under Copyright Act 1987, only the following shall be consider protected under this act that are:

• literary work;
• dramatic work;
• translation of the literary and dramatic work;
• a version of the literary and dramatic work conveyed by means of pictures;
• computer program of the literary work;
• musical work includes arrangement or transcription;
• film;
• artistic work includes graphic work, photograph, sculpture or collage;
• a work of architecture include building or model of building; and
• a work of artistic craftsmanship.

Second, the person who can claim the work or author. Under Copyright Act 1987, author includes the following:

• writer or maker of the literary work;
• composer of the musical work
• the artist to the artistic work
• the photographer of the photograph
• the person who make the film or sound recording

By looking at this two interpretation we can say that the picture if it a photograph or graphic work is still consider to be an artistic work under this law. The person photographer or the artist is the person who can claim that the work is his do apply in this case.

The act also give interpretation on infringing copy that is on this case, the reproduction of the artistic work without the consent of the owner of copyright.

But before we can say that the owner of the picture can take legal action, we need to know whether he/she is a qualified person under this act. The law interpret that a qualified person must be a citizen or permanent resident of Malaysia. If the person is not a qualified person, therefore the legal action cannot be taken.

In section 17 of the Copyright Act 1987, the copyright of the artistic work is protected during the lifetime of the author and shall continue for the period of 50 years after his/her death. Therefore in this case, the copyright is still protected as the author is still alive and can claim ownership of the work.

According to the Malaysian Intellectual Property Association, there is no system that register a copyright in Malaysia. Therefore the author must carefully record all the documents and proof needed to show that he/she own the copyright.

Therefore, it is clear that in Malaysia, all the photographs or pictures on the internet that can be define as an artistic work is copyrighted. Any infringement of the particular work and distribution without any consent fromthe author, legal action can be taken against the person.

References:

Copyright Act 1987, Act 332, Law of Malaysia, http://portal.psz.utm.my/psz/images/stories/2012/copyright_act_1987.pdf

Copyright, Malaysia Intellectual Property Association, http://www.mipa.org.my/copyright.html

e-Government: HRMIS

e-Government application was introduced as one of the MSC Flagship Applications Phase 1 (1996-2003). Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) was developed as  part of the e-Government initiative to transform the human resource management (HRM) of public service by optimizing the resources and utilizing the information technology through electronic government. 

Public Service Department (PSD) develop and implement HRMIS as PSD is the central agency that responsible to the HRM of public service. In 1999, MRCB Multimedia Consortium Sdn. Bhd. (MMCSB) has bee chosen by the government to develop and implement HRMIS together with PSD as the lead agency.  

HRMIS was developed in phases. The first phase was from 12 April 1999 to 11 April 2001, but adjustment was made and first phase was extend until 11 June 2002. The first phase involve the business improvement process (BIP) study that requires comprehensive understanding the rules and regulation of public service HRM including other law and code of conduct. It was a major task handled by project team as it has to translate the legacy process to a modern system. The second phase supposed to ended on 11 October 2002 but was later extend to 11 Mac 2004 that involves mile stone deliverables to management and operation.

In June 2005, the project was roll out and been implemented to all government agencies. The instruction on the implementation of HRMIS was given through Service Circular Vol. 12 Year 2005 signed by the Director General of Public Service. The implementation also been done by phases. The first phase involved six (6) agencies that are Prime Minister Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperation Development, Ministy of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Federal Territory and State of Selangor. With the implementation of HRMIS, data migration from legacy systems must be done and after the migration completed the legacy system must not be used. This as part of government effort to centralised the data center within PSD.

Alhabshi (2011) explain that the accessibility of the government employees to the computer and internet plays an important role in the successful implementation of e-Government application that include HRMIS. In her finding, there is 87% of access to internet while 4% do not have the access. Ramayah and Suki (2010) stated that the acceptance of e-government service can be explain in perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, compatibility, external influence, interpersonal/peer influence, self-efficacy, facilitating condition and  subjective norm.

Currently, there are several complaints regarding the use of HRMIS. Some of the complaints will be on the speed of the system and digital signature. In term of speed of the system, the lagging in process can be experience at a certain period especially during performance appraisal at the end of the year. For the issue of digital signature, there is a clause in the Treasury Circular that only accept the manual signature of an individual for any monetary claims. There is also report on certain hospital that does not accept e-Guarantee Letter produce by HRMIS because it is not in line with the rule and regulation set in the General Order.

HRMIS involve the issue of cyber law when it come to the rule and regulation of public service HRM. If HRMIS process flow does not follow the current regulation set up by PSD and Treasury then, it can cause dispute among the users.

References:

Alhabshi, S., 2011. E-Government in Malaysia: Barriers and Progress. In: E. Adomi, ed. Handbook of Research on Information Communication Technology Policy: Trends, Issues and Advancements. s.l.:IGI Global, pp. 121-146.

JPA, 2009. HRMIS: Transformasi Pengurusan Sumber Manusia Abad ke-21. Putrajaya: JPA.

Ramayah, T. & Suki, N., 2010. User acceptance of the e-Government services in Malaysia: structural equation modelling approach. Interdiscipinary Journal of Information, Knowledge and Management, p. 395 

Pekeliling Perkhidmatan Bilangan 12 Tahun 2005, JPA

http://www.eghrmis.gov.my/docs/pdf/slide_forum/sesi_dialog2012/ISU-ISU_MENGURUS_PERUBAHAN_EDITED.pdf

Cyber Law in 2002: MSC Flagship Applications

I remember the first time I was introduced to cyber law in 2002. At that time, I was a student in Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technogy, International Islamic University Malaysia (KICT, IIUM). It was in Semester 2 Session 2002/2003. Every student taking Bachelor of Management Information Systems weere required to learn Cyber Law & Islamic Ethics (INFO 4420). The credit hours and contact hours is 3. I cannot remember the name of the lecturer, but I remember he was a Senior Lecturer in Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Law (AIKOL). I miss the first class due to registration problem and was been given reprimand by him. At that time, internet was not that accessible in Gombak and I have to go to a cyber cafe in Medan Idaman or famously known as Ong Tai Kim by IIUM students.

The subject of Cyber Law is quite new to my friend and I as we are not been given a lot of exposure about the existence of law, codes of conduct or regulations pertaining the computer and the Internet. At that time, Malaysia was under a rapid exposure to multimedia, computer network, internet and even DVDs are consider very modern and a specialty product. 

In that class, I still remember until today is the seven (7) flagship applications of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) that are:

1. Electronic Government;
2. Multipurpose Card;
3. Smart School;
4. Telehealth;
5. R&D Cluster;
6. e-Business; and
7. Technopreneur Development.

       i.        e-Government: It is an initiative taken by the Government operates efficiently and to cope with the information age. There are seven (7) pilot projects that are as follow:

a)          Project Monitoring System (SPP II)

b)         Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS)

c)          Generic Office Environment (GOE)

d)         Electronic Procurement (EP)

e)          Electronic Services (E-Services)

f)          Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX)

g)         E-Syariah

Since I am a government officer, I knew most 6 out of 7 e-government projects. I never knew about GOE. I checked the Malaysia Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) website and stumble upon the e-book in PDF form entitled “Information on MAMPU”. This project is now known as Generic Office Environment-Electronic Government Document Management System (GOE-EGDMS). The ultimate aim of this project is as the electronic management and administration of documents and records in the Malaysia Government. My personal opinion is, to maximize the use of GOE-EGDMS, the government agencies and departments must have the willingness to reduce the amount of papers used in meetings. They must fully utilize the current technology such tablet pc (iPad, Galaxy Tab etc).

      ii.        Multipurpose Card: It is simply a smart card where it used as the platform to perform a few task such as information about individual and electronic transaction.

Every Malaysia citizens have MyKad that is the current identification card produced by National Registration Agency. It has microprocessor chip that stores National ID, driving license, passport information, health information, Touch n Go, MEPS Cash, ATM and Public Key Infrastructure. Currently, I still been ask to show both MyKad and driving license if I were stop by the police in a roadblock.

    iii.        Smart School: The flagship application is meant to transform Malaysia from industry to knowledge-based economy. The applications consist of School Teaching-Learning Materials, Smart School Management System, Smart School Technology Infrastructure, School Assessment System, System Intergration and Help Desk.

This application is one of the government best efforts in transforming the learning experience for the students. The way of learning must change according to the technological changes and now it seems that most of our students in school are very technology savvy even in the early childhood.

    iv.        Telehealth: The aim of telehealth is to keep the people inform about the health information and provide virtual health services. The telehealth application involved four (4) pilot project that are Teleconsultation, Mass customized/Personalized Health Information and Education, Lifetime Health Plan and Continuing Medical Education.

I have checked few website regarding MSC’s Telehealth as it seems that most of us are not fully aware about this application. But, we can browse through Ministry of Health website where it has the link to InfoSihat and MyHealth for Life.

      v.        R&D Cluster: The flagship application pools corporate resources to promote the research and development activities in new technology. The programmes include MSC R&D Grant Scheme, MSC Student Attachment Programmes, MSC Technology Forum Series, collaborative R&D effort between firms, universities and research institute.

There is a total of RM85 million been allocated by the government through MSC R&D Grant. Hopefully the money will be well spend.

    vi.        E-Business: This application is aim to shape electronic business environment for the businesses to stay competitive.

Currently, there are a lot company out there that provide e-commerce solutions to the businesses that want to engage in electronic business environment. It is currently shaping the world’s economy as online transaction infrastructures are developing fast.

   vii.        Technopreneur Development: The objective to focus on the development of ICT SMEs to become one of the world class corporations.

I think we do have a lot of companies that are moving forward and becoming very successful. According to Top10Malaysia.com (2013), the most successful technopreneur include:

a)    Mark Chang from Jobstreet.com

b)    Ganesh Kumar Bangah from MOL

c)    Pua Khein Seng from Phison Electronics

d)    Puan Chan Keong from Green Packet

e)    Richard Tan from from Interbase Resource (Lelong)

f)     Christopher Chan Hooi Guan from TMS

g)    Wei Chuan Beng from Redtone

h)   Chan Kee Siak from Exabytes

i)     Tengku Farith Rithauddeen from Skali

j)      Harres Tan from HT Consulting

It has been 11 years since I learn Cyber Law in IIUM and still remember the MSC Flagship Application. We have come a long way and move forward we must.

Reference:

   http://nurelimtiaz.uitm.edu.my/wordpressfolder-elimtiaz/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/MSC.pdf

  http://top10malaysia.com/home/index.php/news-and-events/10-most-inspiring-malaysian-technopreneurs

            http://www.mampu.gov.my/documents/10228/41832/Buku+Informasi+Mengenai+MAMPU.pdf/93a3fd96-8590-4114-98ab-56cc39c33251