PUTRAJAYA : The thumbprint on smartcards is the best security feature to prevent tampering of personal information, Home Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Aseh Che Mat said.

"The thumbprint has to be scanned by a reader and match the user's print before access to the user's personal information is authorised,'' he said yesterday.

Aseh said if it did not match the identification, personal details such as health information, passport and driving licence information, could not be obtained.

"It is possible for people to display forged cards at a glance but it is impossible to access the information without the correct thumbprint identification,'' he said.

He added that this was important to prevent unauthorised persons from abusing the smartcards.

Aseh was speaking to reporters after meeting his Brunei counterpart Awang Abdul Rahman Mohiddin and his delegation of eight officials from the Brunei Home Ministry, the Prime Minister's Department and the Pusat Dakwah Islamiah.

The delegation was on a seven-day working visit to Malaysia to learn about Malaysia's film production and censorship techniques.

Awang said the censorship and film legislation in Brunei was similar to Malaysia's and the two countries could share experiences and knowledge on censorship issues.

He said Brunei could learn new techniques from Malaysia.

Aseh said Malaysia could share experiences with Brunei on amendments of certain regulations and cited the example of the proposed review of the Printing Presses and Publications Act announced by Home Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last week.