KUALA LUMPUR: The National Registration Department (NRD) has warned netizens against spreading the photograph of a woman's identity card on social media, saying it is a breach of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2010.
The department pointed out that the woman, said to be a Chinese national, had been granted Malaysia citizenship and was eligible to carry a MyKad.
It was learnt that the woman, who is married to a Malaysian man, had obtained the blue Mykad as per the procedures stipulated under Article 15(1) of the Federal Constitution.
An NRD spokesman said the act of disseminating details or personal documents of a third party is an offence under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2010.
"We would like to clarify the allegation that had gone viral on social media about a so-called Chinese citizen carrying a Malaysian identity card.
"The individual mentioned in the post had obtained her Malaysian citizenship in accordance with Article 15(1) of the Federal Constitution, whereby her husband is a Malaysian citizen."
The department also asked the public not to disclose third party personal details on any platform, particularly on social media.
The viral photo, which had been circulating on Facebook several days ago, featured a MyKad and a passport of a Chinese woman. It carried a caption that read "Chinese with a BLUE IC! What’s your comment? ('Orang dari negara China ada IC BIRU! Apa komen anda?)"
According to Article 15(1) of the Federal Constitution, any married woman whose husband is a citizen is entitled, upon making application to the Federal Government, to be registered as a citizen if the marriage was subsisting and the husband a citizen at the beginning of October 1962, or if she satisfies the Federal government— that she has resided in the Federation throughout the two years preceding the date of the application and intends to do so permanently; and that she is of good character.
Under PDPA, it is an offence for the user to expose third party personal details without the consent of the data owner, and the offender can be fined to maximum RM500,000 or maximum three years’ imprisonment or both if convicted.