Kong See Hoh reports on a breach involving 300,000 students’ and their parents’ personal information.
The Personal Data Protection Department (JPDP) urges parents of students whose personal data were reportedly leaked to demand an explanation from the Education Ministry.
JPDP said if they are not happy with the ministry’s explanation, they can lodge complaints with the department, Sin Chew Daily reported today.
The department was commenting on the daily’s report on Wednesday that detailed personal information of some 300,000 SPM and STPM students and their parents/guardians were available for a fee.
A “whistleblower” who tipped off the paper said a peddler who claimed to be acting for a student recruitment agency had been offering the classified information obtained from the Education Department and selling them to private colleges for RM1,500.
Read more on The Sun Daily. It’s not yet clear whether this was an insider wrongdoing case or a hack.
For those as confused as I was by the SPM and STPM reference, from Wikipedia:
Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), or the Malaysian Certificate of Education, is a national examination taken by all fifth-year secondary school students in Malaysia, equivalent to eleventh grade in American’s K–12 (education).
The Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), being a pre-university study and equivalent to the A-Level, is the last public examination at the secondary school level.
For equivalence to a variety of countries’ levels or exams, see this chart.