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SINGAPORE: Singapore Police (SPF) may obtain data from TraceTogether for criminal investigations, said Interior Minister of State Desmond Tan in Parliament on Monday (January 4).
The SPF is empowered by the Code of Criminal Procedure to get any data, and that includes the data from TraceTogether, Mr. Tan said.
“The government is the custodian of TT (TraceTogether) data submitted by individuals and strict measures have been put in place to safeguard this personal data,” Tan added.
“Some examples of these measures include allowing only authorized officials to access the data, using it only for authorized purposes, and storing the data on a secure data platform.”
Mr Tan was responding to a question from Member of Parliament (MP) Christopher de Souza, who had asked whether TraceTogether data will be used for criminal investigations and what are the legal provisions and safeguards for using such data.
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Under the Public Sector (Governance) Act, public officials who recklessly or knowingly disclose data without authorization, or misuse the data, can be fined up to S $ 5,000 or imprisoned for up to two years, or both, Tan said.
“We do not exclude the use of TraceTogether data in circumstances where the safety of citizens is or has been affected, and this also applies to all other data,” said Tan, in response to a follow-up question from the deputy. of the Workers’ Party. Gerald Giam, who had asked if use of the data would violate TraceTogether’s privacy statement.
“Authorized police officers may invoke the Code of Criminal Procedure … powers to obtain this data for criminal investigation purposes and for the purpose of the safety of our citizens, but otherwise TraceTogether data will be used only for contact tracking and for the purpose of combating the COVID situation. “
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