A/HRC/44/40/Add.3 • In providing high-quality data, constant integrity checks are conducted at every part of the statistics released to ensure accuracy and consistency with minimum errors. To achieve this, high response rates in surveys, as well as cross-references with administrative data are important. Hence as we move forward, Malaysia had worked on many engagements with relevant agencies on data sharing and data integration. • In the meantime, Malaysia commits to providing data as requested by users, subjected to the Statistics Act 1965 whereby personal information cannot be shared with third parties. However, Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) has a microdata policy where 100% of household dataset can be shared with government agencies, contractors appointed by government agencies. As for researchers aside from government agencies, they can obtain 30% of microdata with 100% variables or 100% of microdata with 30% variables. These microdata provided are always statistically represented at the national level. Additionally, there is a data-dissemination sub-product StatsDW MyLab where researchers can access to 100% microdata at DOSM Headquarters consisting of economic datasets, social datasets and compilation datasets. • Furthermore, Malaysia is working on amending the Statistics Act 1965 (Revised 1989) to ease data sharing without compromising privacy, as well as embarking on many initiatives to improve data quality to meet users’ demands while educating users on data usage and limitations. Malaysia also welcomes capacity building assistance in improving statistical processes towards more open and transparent data sharing. Paragraph 24 Government officials bluntly contradicted these consistent reports from a variety of sources. A representative of the Department of Statistics said that the Department “makes the data available to all,” while a Ministry of Economic Affairs official said the government provides what it can, but must be careful with data due to privacy concerns. Since many other countries provide anonymized data without compromising privacy, the policy seems more likely to be motivated by a desire to conceal from the public information that might not be favourable to the government. Comments from the Government of Malaysia: • As for the compilation process of official statistics, Malaysia commits to provide information as per requested by all users subject to data limitations (e.g. survey relative standard error) and data availability. In the case where data is not available, Malaysia welcomes feedback to improve data collection, as well as capacity building assistance to seek alternative sources. Paragraph 25 In some cases, it appears that important data is not even being collected. And in others, existing data cannot be disaggregated to shed light on the situation of vulnerable target groups. Officials were consistently unable to provide key figures. The Ministry of Housing said, for example, that there are no records kept as to the number of people evicted from public housing. Officials were consistently unwilling or unable to estimate the size of vulnerable populations for which the government does not publish official figures. They could not provide estimates of undocumented immigrants, stateless people, or those in need of low-cost housing, even though other countries routinely create such estimates, which are essential to informed policymaking. Comments from the Government of Malaysia: • The Ministry of Housing of Malaysia does not keep the records of the number of people evicted from People’s Housing Program (PHP) because the management of PHP is within the State Government’s jurisdiction. For projects managed by the Ministry, the Ministry has not done any eviction so far. 11