Rela denies personal data used for automatic registration of members

KUALA LUMPUR: The People's Volunteer Corp (Rela) has denied allegations that it had used an individual's personal data for automatic registration as a Rela member without their consent.

Rela in a statement today said the automatic registration was against Section 6 (1) of the Personal Data Protection Act 2010.

"Rela is aware of the public's concerns and will take appropriate action to conduct an internal investigation to identify the membership registration procedures implemented before Act 752 (Malaysia Volunteers Corp Act) came into force.

"We will not compromise if any party or individual is found to have knowingly used an individual's personal data for a specific purpose without their consent," the statement said.

Earlier several people had claimed that their personal details were used to register them automatically as a Rela volunteer and their details were in the Rela's database, as shared on social media recently.

In a related move, those who have been registered as Rela members and wish to terminate their membership are to call 03-8870 3770 and email to pro_rela@moha.gov.my.

In the statement, Rela also informed that the department was in the midst of a "whitening programme" to terminate members who have been inactive for a period of five years.

However, the programme carried out under Section 9 of the Act was temporarily suspended as Rela was focusing on the fight against COVID-19.

Members who are still interested to extend their membership can do so by notifying Rela director-general in writing," the statement read.

-- BERNAMA