On Aug. 3, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced in a joint release that all travellers arriving in Singapore will have to put on an electronic monitoring device if they are not serving their Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at designated facilities.

This new measure applies to Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents, Long-Term Pass holders including Student Pass holders, Work Pass holders, and their dependents.

This requirement will start from Aug. 10, 23:59pm.

Electronic monitoring device is a wristband

It has since been revealed that the electronic monitoring device looks like a black wristband.

Along with the wristband monitoring device, there is also a gateway device which communicates with the device.

There is also an app called StayHome@SG that those serving SHN at their place of residence will have to install on their phones and activate the monitoring device within a certain period of time upon arrival.

If the device is not activated as required, the authorities will follow up to determine their location, and assist to resolve any technical difficulties, or take enforcement action, as the case may be.

Reduce frequency of visits made by officers

Those who are serving their SHN outside of designated facilities will have to wear this monitoring device during the entire 14-day period.

During this period, the person wearing the device may receive notifications and have to acknowledge them in a timely manner.

Any attempt to tamper with the electronic device or leave the place of residence will trigger an alert to the authorities who will conduct follow-up investigations, except when they are leaving for his or her appointment for Covid-19 test.

After serving the SHN period, the person would need to deactivate the device and dispose of or return it in accordance with the instructions.

The use of this monitoring device also means that the officers will not have to conduct checks as frequently as what they are doing now.

Currently, officers will check on those who are serving SHN at their place of residence once every alternate days, CNA reported.

Once the new measure kicks in, officers will only pay a visit when and if there is a suspected violation.

No personal data is stored in the devices

The news release also said that these monitoring devices use GPS and 4G/Bluetooth signals to determine if persons on SHN are within the range of their place of residence.

The devices do not store any personal data and do not have any voice or video recording function.

Data transmitted from the devices to the authorities’ backend system, such as the GPS and 4G/Bluetooth signal data, is protected by end-to-end certificate-based encryption.

Government officials authorised by the respective authorities will have access to the data for the purposes of monitoring and investigation.

Top photo courtesy of ICA.