TraceTogether has been adopted by about 78% of the city-state’s population of nearly 5.7 million.
Photographer: Catherine Lai / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Catherine Lai / AFP / Getty Images
Singapore’s police force can use data acquired through its widely adopted contact tracking program for criminal investigations, a senior official said on Monday.
Responding to a question about the city-state’s TraceTogether program in parliament, Desmond Tan, Minister of State for the Interior Ministry, said the police force was “authorized under the criminal procedure code for obtain any data, including data from TraceTogether, for criminal investigations. “
“The government is the guardian of TT data sent by individuals, and strict measures are in place to protect that personal data,” said Tan. “Examples of these measures include only allowing authorized officers to access the data, using that data for authorized purposes only and storing the data on a secure data platform.”
With one of the highest membership rates in the world, TraceTogether has been adopted by about 78% of the city-state’s population of nearly 5.7 million, Education Minister Lawrence Wong said during a parliamentary speech on Monday . The use of TraceTogether via your mobile app or a wearable token will be required for entry into public places in early 2021, the Ministry of Health declared in December.
Tan’s remarks follow privacy concerns raised by citizens last year during the contact tracking program. According to TraceTogether website, the program does not collect data about individual locations of GPS, Wi-Fi or mobile networks in use. He also states that the data can “be used only for contact tracking of people possibly exposed to Covid-19”.
According to Tan, public officials who recklessly or intentionally disclose the data without authorization or misuse the data may be subject to a fine. up until S $ 5,000, about $ 3,800, or imprisonment for up until two years, or both.