Malaysia's national smart card underused: Report

"Over five million Malaysians have not fully tapped into MyKad applications," National Registration Department director-general Azizan Ayob told Malaysia daily The Star. The National Registration Department is the body tasked with issuing these smartcards to Malaysia's 22 million population.

MyKad is government-issued all-in-one smartcard which performs a wide range of functions such as data processing, storage and file management. It stores citizen data such as identity card numbers, passport information, driving licenses and health information in a single embedded 64K microchip. First launched in April 2001, the card also promises secure access to applications such as automated teller machines (ATM) and government-related Online services.

“We are having a difficult time convincing the 5.7 million MyKad users to realize its full potential," Azizan was quoted as saying. "

He said in the report certain features of the card are underutilized. These include the 3.5 million citizens with the stored value cash card option and the three million users with the ATM feature.

In addition, an application for digital certification/authentication called PKI, has been effectively deployed by only one organization--the Malaysian Institute of Microelectronics Systems (Mimos), the report said. Mimos currently uses MyKad to conduct activities such as work scheduling, claims and transport bookings.

Malaysians currently have the choice of whether they want to move to MyKAD. The only exception is for those who need a replacement of their current identity cards, changed their addresses or are applying for an ID for the first time. The Malaysian government has set a target of issuing 20 million MyKads by 2007.

Elsewhere, countries such as the U.S., UK and the Philippines are also reportedly mulling the adopting of a national ID system in the wake of terrorism threats after the September 11 tragedy.

However, such plans have been met with fierce resistance from bodies such as Privacy International, which believes national IDs infringe human rights and individual privacy.

"In recent years, attempts to create national ID cards in the U.S., Korea and Taiwan have all failed because of public opposition," the group said on its Web site.