Workers' Party Member of Parliament (MP) Gerald Giam thinks that it is "ill-advised" for the government to not specifically rule out the use of TraceTogether data in criminal investigations, in the interest of encouraging a higher adoption rate of the app and token.
More than 4.2 million people, or about 78 per cent of residents in Singapore are now using TraceTogether, Education Minister Lawrence Wong told Parliament yesterday (Jan 4.).
Giam said in a Facebook post on Jan. 4:
"I think it is ill-advised that the Government has not specifically ruled out the use of TraceTogether data for criminal investigations, as other countries like Australia have done. I hope they change their position, for sake of our national battle against Covid-19."
Giam also shared the privacy safeguards of TraceTogether.
In the changelog, TraceTogether has included a Jan. 4 update, noting that the government had clarified how the Criminal Procedure Code applies to all data under Singapore’s jurisdiction.
You can see his Facebook post below:
This came after Australians raised privacy concerns, and the possibility that unrelated bodies such as law enforcement agencies could access such data.
Criminal Procedure Code applies to all data, not just TraceTogether
The issue of police access to the data was highlighted during an exchange in Parliament on Jan. 4.
Answering a question from People's Action Party (PAP) MP Christopher de Souza, Desmond Tan stated that the police are empowered under the Criminal Procedure Code to access TraceTogether data, if necessary, during the course of criminal investigations.
Tan, who is the Minister of State for Home Affairs, added that the police will extract data from witnesses, but not suspects.
In another follow-up question, Giam asked if this would hurt the take-up rate of the TraceTogether app and token. He said:
"We know that effective contact tracing is key to contain the spread of COVID-19 and the more people use TraceTogether, the better. We should always be looking for ways to improve the, to remove impediments to voluntary adoption of the TraceTogether app.
So if people suspect that their TraceTogether data is being used for anything other than contact tracing, won't this lead to a lower-than-expected adoption rate? And I'm sure that MOS is aware that there are ways in which users can prevent the app from being used, for example, exchanging proximity data information, even if they have it installed.
So my question is, now that the government has said that they might actually use the TraceTogether data for police investigations, does this not violate the TraceTogether privacy statement, that says that any data shared with MOH, will only be used for contact tracing of persons possibly exposed to COVID-19."
In response, Tan said:
"Thank you for the question. TraceTogether is conceived and implemented for the purpose of contact tracing and for fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. We do not preclude the use of TraceTogether data in circumstances where citizens' safety and security is, or has been affected, and this applies to all other data as well.
And authorised police officers may invoke then the Criminal Procedure Code that I mentioned earlier, powers to obtain this data for purpose of criminal investigation, and for the purpose of the safety and security of our citizens, but otherwise TraceTogether data is indeed to be used only for contact tracing, for the purpose of fighting the Covid situation."
TraceTogether privacy statement
A look at the TraceTogether privacy statement on its website gives the following statement:
Data that is shared with MOH will be used for COVID-19 contact tracing
"Any data shared with MOH will be used for contact tracing persons possibly exposed to COVID-19. Only authorised public officers will be able to use the data. The data about devices near you is stored securely on your device, and not accessible unless uploaded.
Also, we want to be transparent with you. TraceTogether data may be used in circumstances where citizen safety and security is or has been affected. Authorised Police officers may invoke Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) powers to request users to upload their TraceTogether data for criminal investigations. The Singapore Police Force is empowered under the CPC to obtain any data, including TraceTogether data, for criminal investigations."
Users may request for their identification data to be deleted from their servers, unless their proximity data has already been uploaded to the Government server as a confirmed case.
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Top image from CNA video.