The TraceTogether controversy shows the need to renegotiate Singapore’s social contract on the question of data privacy.
By Teo Yi-Ling and Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman
January 26, 2021
As of December 31, 2020, Singapore’s TraceTogether COVID-19 contact tracing program had attained a national adoption rate of over 70 percent. In order to nudge the public toward adoption, the government had invested significantly in technology and community outreach, responding to initial public concerns over the app’s functionality, data security, and privacy protection. These issues had weighed heavily on the public’s side of the allegorical seesaw of trust, but by end of 2020, the government appeared to have successfully calibrated its priorities for tackling public health concerns with assurance about respect for personal privacy.
This achievement would have been a fitting coda to the program’s launch, but for the Singapore government’s disclosure on January 4 that in addition to COVID-19 contact tracing, TraceTogether data could be used for the purpose of criminal investigations. Seen as an apparent revocation of promises to the contrary, the announcement came as a bombshell for many. Decried as a betrayal of public trust and policy backpedaling, notwithstanding the technical legality of using TraceTogether data under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), the revelation created fodder for political contestation. Further exacerbating the damage was the fact that the government is not subject to the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). In an attempt to assuage public outrage, a new law limiting access to TraceTogether data for criminal investigations is now being expedited through parliament.
Read the full article at https://thediplomat.com/2021/01/someone-to-watch-over-me-trusting-surveillance-in-singapores-smart-nation/
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