MyKad

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The Malaysian Government Multipurpose Card (GMPC) or MyKad part of Multimedia Super Corridor flagship applications is regarded as the world's first smart identity card. It was officially launched on September 5, 2001 and incorporates a microchip, which contains several items of data including biometrics. As of 2006, MyKad has eight current and several planned applications which are mostly related to proof of identity or electronic money. From March 2003, a variant issuable to newborn babies was introduced, known as MyKid.

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[edit] Name

The names MyKad and MyKid are both plays on words. My can mean MY, the ISO-3166-1 country code for Malaysia (more widely known in its form as the country code top-level domain .my), or the English first person possessive pronoun my, indicating ownership of the card. Kad is a transliteration of the English word Card (pronunciation and meaning being the same in Malay), as well as an acronym or backronym of Kad Akuan Diri which translates to 'Personal Identification Card'. Kid is an English slang for child and also stands for Kad Identiti Diri, which means Personal Identity Card.

[edit] Eligibility and adoption

All Malaysian citizens and permanent residents 12 years old or above are currently eligible for a MyKad. From 2001, it gradually replaced an older Malaysian Identity Card system, that had been in use since 1949 under British colonial rule, with the intention of becoming ubiquitous by 2007. By 5 May 2004, about 10 million cards were in general use and another 9 million Malaysians planned to switch to the MyKad by the end of 2005.

Adoption was optional but spurred by the waiving of the application fee of between RM20 and RM50 until 1 January 2006. As of 27 December 2005, 1,180,208 Malaysians still held an old IC, which caused outdoor queues over 200 metres long and extension of office hours till the early morning, when, as the end of the grace period neared, thousands of people flocked to their nearest National Registration Department office to replace their ID cards.

All newborn babies are issued with a MyKid at the hospital. This is "upgraded" to a MyKad on the 12th birthday. The MyKad must be replaced 6 to 8 years after the first one is issued, as it is a requirement that the photograph be 'current'.

The MyKad must be carried by all persons when leaving their home.

[edit] Technical specifics and applications

The MyKad is a piece of plastic with an embedded microchip and has the dimensions of a standard credit card. The original card contained a 32Kb EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) chip running on the M-COS (MyKad Chip Operating System) operating system. In November 2002, the capacity was increased to 64Kb. A register of all cardholders is kept by the National Registration Department of Malaysia, which operates the MyKad system.

Citizens own a blue coloured card, while that for permanent residents is red; the MyKid is pink in colour. The MyKad project was developed at a cost of RM276 million and was originally intended to have four functions:

  • identity card, including fingerprints
  • driving licence
  • passport in Malaysia and several neighbouring countries, although a conventional passport is still required internationally - this should reduce congestion at Malaysian borders as holders will pass through unmanned gates using biometric (fingerprint) identification
  • storage for health information

However, four further applications were added before or during its initial release,

At this time, most of the functions are still not widely used because they are not widely promoted.

The extensible design of the card may be leading to functionality creep. Further applications envisaged by the government include:

  • frequent travellers' card
  • a merge with the Payment Multi-Purpose Card ('PMPC'), giving the MyKad credit and debit card functions that will pave the way for other financial uses

The MyKid has no photograph of the owner, and only contains three categories of data:

  • personal information and limited information on the parents
  • health information
  • education information, for enrollment in school

Information on race and religion is included in the MyKad although they are only stored on the chip, and are not physically printed. There have been numerous errors, of up to 25% in one church congregation, in the religion field, leading to speculation of a conspiracy to mark non-Muslim cardholders as Muslim[1]. Those whose religion had been recorded incorrectly might have had to pay a fee, or undergo tedious negotiations including the production of baptismal certificates or other letters, to fix their information. In December 2005, the government apologized for the problems caused and attempted to rectify the correction procedure by providing a single form, Form A. The main cause of the problem was probably that, depending on the way one applied for the MyKad, such information was not always entered. This is however debatable since other information not provided such as race (ethnicity) never seemed to have the same problems.

A 12-digit number (format: YYMMDD-SS-###G, used since 1991) known as the Identification Card number (IC) is issued to MyKad holders. The first group of numbers (YYMMDD) are the date of birth. The second group of numbers (SS) represents the place of birth of the holder - the states (01-13), the federal territories (14-17) or "71" for those born outside Malaysia. The last group of numbers (###G) is a serial number in an unidentified pattern which may denote the ethnic group and religion of the individual. The last digit (G) is an odd number for a male, while an even number is given for a female.

[edit] PKI and MyKad

MyKad PKI application allows for 2 digital certificates to be inserted in the MyKad. MyKad holders can apply and purchase the digital certificates from 2 of Malaysia's certification authority, MSCTrustgate.com Sdn. Bhd. and DigiCert Sdn. Bhd..

PKI allows for easy securing of private data over public telecommunications networks, thus allowing, secure electronic transactions over the Internet which include:

[edit] MyKad in other countries

From 1 January 2003, MyKad was available to citizens of Brunei. One of its uses is as a travel document between Malaysia and Brunei. However, in 2006, Singapore rejected the use of MyKad by frequent Malaysian travellers to enter the country, citing security concerns.

The MyKad is one of the seven Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Flagship Applications of the Malaysian government. The others are:

  • Electronic Government
  • Borderless Marketing
  • World Wide Web Manufacturing
  • R & D Cluster
  • Telehealth
  • Smart School

[edit] References

[edit] See also

Hong Kong Identity Card, the second Smart ID card system

[edit] External links


 v • d • e 
Multimedia Super Corridor

MSC Centre: Cyberjaya

MSC Area: Klang Valley

MSC Major Landmarks: Petronas Twin Towers | Kuala Lumpur Tower | Kuala Lumpur Sentral | Technology Park Malaysia | Putrajaya | Cyberjaya | Kuala Lumpur International Airport

MSC Prime Applications: EGovernment | MyKad
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