Malaysians will soon have to use the national digital identification system – MyDigital ID – to log in to all government mobile applications.
The Road Transport Department (RTD) announced that beginning Oct 10, Malaysians would require a MyDigital ID to access its MyJPJ mobile application.
“Eventually, all government mobile applications will use the MyDigital ID login method,” said Susie Annie Tamin, head of communication and promotion for MyDigital ID.
“This is not a new system, as it has been in place since 2016 under the 11th Malaysia Plan,” she added.
Susie Annie said over 30 government agencies use MyDigital ID for secure logins. They include MySejahtera, MyGov Portal, and HRMIS (the government’s human resources portal). Subsequently, there were suggestions from several ministries to roll it out for public use.
Last November, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim allocated RM80 million to the Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems (Mimos) Bhd to speed up the country’s digital transformation. Anwar was also the first Malaysian to register for, and receive a digital identification.
“Mimos Bhd set up a special purpose vehicle, MyDigital ID Sdn Bhd, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mimos, but it comes under the purview of the National Security Council (NSC),” said Susie Annie.
Mimos is a “strategic agency” of the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, while the NSC is an agency under the Prime Minister’s Department.
Following the RTD’s announcement, Susie Annie said the surge in new registrations has pushed the number of MyDigital ID users past 800,000. On Sept 12, the MyDigital ID Sdn Bhd’s chief solutions officer, Mohamed Redzuan Abdullah, told Twentytwo13 it was nearing 700,000 registered users.
Susie Annie said integrating all mobile applications and agencies under MyDigital ID would make it easier for Malaysians.
“The government aspires to use the MyDigital ID login method for all government applications for better security and to make it easier for the rakyat (public) to deal with government agencies,” she said.
“MyJPJ is the largest government mobile application, so we are starting with it. MySejahtera is already part of the system.”
MyDigital ID is a trusted national identity management and digital identification system. It is a platform for transaction signing created to address flaws like unsecured communication channels and user credential storage.
It was reported in July that financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, and e-wallet providers will soon integrate MyDigital ID as a solution for eKYC (electronic know-your-customer), and transaction authorisation.
The mandatory login of the MyJPJ app via MyDigital ID has irked many.
Former deputy international trade and industry minister Ong Kian Ming weighed in on the episode, saying that this move was a “bad way to force people to use MyDigital ID and did not take into account the existing problems people face in registering for the MyDigital App”.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Anthony Loke had a press conference at 6pm to address the MyJPJ-MyDigital ID episode.
UPDATE: 6.45pm
During his press conference, Loke said:
• The pop-up in the MyJPJ application stating that users would have to log in via the MyDigital ID application from Oct 10 had been removed, as nothing had been decided.
• After the post-Cabinet meeting, he said he held discussions with MyDigital ID and supported the integration of the applications, but added that it had to be seamless, easy, and shouldn’t trouble users.
• He explained that it would take some time to sort out the back-end, as there are 10.5 million MyJPJ users. They could continue using the application as normal.
• He also mentioned that the Transport Ministry would make announcements from time to time to provide updates on the integration of the applications. The aim, he said, was to ensure that pre-approval after downloading the MyDigital ID application would be easy and fast.
Loke added that there was no issue with the MyJPJ application, but that the intention was for the MyDigital ID application to serve as a single national log-in for all government applications.
