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Singapore Police Force can obtain TraceTogether data for criminal investigations: Desmond Tan


kobayashiGT
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SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) can obtain TraceTogether data for criminal investigations, said Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan in Parliament on Monday (Jan 4).

The SPF is empowered under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to obtain any data, and that includes the TraceTogether data, said Mr Tan.

"The Government is the custodian of the TT (TraceTogether) data submitted by the individuals and stringent measures are put in place to safeguard this personal data," added Mr Tan.

"Examples of these measures include only allowing authorised officers to access the data, using such data only for authorised purposes and storing the data on a secured data platform."

 

Mr Tan was responding to a question from Member of Parliament (MP) Christopher de Souza, who had asked if TraceTogether data will be used for criminal investigations and what the legal provisions and safeguards are for using such data.

A privacy statement on the TraceTogether website had earlier said the data would only be used “for contact tracing purposes”. 

The site was updated on Jan 4 which "clarified how the Criminal Procedure code applies to all data under Singapore's jurisdiction".

"TraceTogether data may be used in circumstances where citizen safety and security is or has been affected," it wrote. 

"The Singapore Police Force is empowered under the CPC to obtain any data, including TraceTogether data, for criminal investigations."

Under the Public Sector (Governance) Act, public officers who recklessly or knowingly disclose the data without authorisation, or misuse the data, may be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to two years, or both, said Mr Tan.

"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," said Mr Tan, in response to a supplementary question from Workers' Party MP Gerald Giam who had asked if use of the data would violate the TraceTogether privacy statement.

"Authorised police officers may invoke then the Criminal Procedure Code ... 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 and for the purpose of fighting the COVID situation."

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woah. flip prata very fast sia. Next time they will add more and more usage for tracetogether.

with safety and security in mind. 🤣

 

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I actually support police to retrieve data for criminal investigation. Not only for trace together but all other means such as CCTV and private owner car camera or shop CCTV. However, all such requests and information must be properly recorded and open for open investigation if there are any misuse. People releasing and obtaining such info other than the intended purpose should be prosecuted.  

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44 minutes ago, Victor68 said:

I actually support police to retrieve data for criminal investigation. Not only for trace together but all other means such as CCTV and private owner car camera or shop CCTV. However, all such requests and information must be properly recorded and open for open investigation if there are any misuse. People releasing and obtaining such info other than the intended purpose should be prosecuted.  

we support or not is 1 issue ma.

but they flip prata when they promise it wont be use for such purpose is another. 

even the top ppl can flip like this, how are we to trust them?

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1 hour ago, kobayashiGT said:

trace-together-app.jpg

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) can obtain TraceTogether data for criminal investigations, said Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan in Parliament on Monday (Jan 4).

The SPF is empowered under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to obtain any data, and that includes the TraceTogether data, said Mr Tan.

"The Government is the custodian of the TT (TraceTogether) data submitted by the individuals and stringent measures are put in place to safeguard this personal data," added Mr Tan.

"Examples of these measures include only allowing authorised officers to access the data, using such data only for authorised purposes and storing the data on a secured data platform."

 

Mr Tan was responding to a question from Member of Parliament (MP) Christopher de Souza, who had asked if TraceTogether data will be used for criminal investigations and what the legal provisions and safeguards are for using such data.

A privacy statement on the TraceTogether website had earlier said the data would only be used “for contact tracing purposes”. 

The site was updated on Jan 4 which "clarified how the Criminal Procedure code applies to all data under Singapore's jurisdiction".

"TraceTogether data may be used in circumstances where citizen safety and security is or has been affected," it wrote. 

"The Singapore Police Force is empowered under the CPC to obtain any data, including TraceTogether data, for criminal investigations."

Under the Public Sector (Governance) Act, public officers who recklessly or knowingly disclose the data without authorisation, or misuse the data, may be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to two years, or both, said Mr Tan.

"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," said Mr Tan, in response to a supplementary question from Workers' Party MP Gerald Giam who had asked if use of the data would violate the TraceTogether privacy statement.

"Authorised police officers may invoke then the Criminal Procedure Code ... 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 and for the purpose of fighting the COVID situation."

 

That’s not necessarily a bad thing :grin:

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Since when we have any data not available to ah gong?

Obvious use here is to see who flout gathering rules together... idk what guilt by proximity can prove for any other kind of crime

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3 minutes ago, yishunite said:

Since when we have any data not available to ah gong?

Obvious use here is to see who flout gathering rules together... idk what guilt by proximity can prove for any other kind of crime

Their word should be solid as a rock to gain trust, not flippy like a prata what.

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14 minutes ago, Beregond said:

we support or not is 1 issue ma.

but they flip prata when they promise it wont be use for such purpose is another. 

even the top ppl can flip like this, how are we to trust them?

 

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not sure how effective this will be as the TT token does not have GPS and data is only stored for 20+ days (?)

anyways, don't bring token when want to commit crime lor. not I say one, my friend ah seng say one. [lipsrsealed]

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13 minutes ago, yishunite said:

Since when we have any data not available to ah gong?

Obvious use here is to see who flout gathering rules together... idk what guilt by proximity can prove for any other kind of crime

One such use I can think of is when a witness or accomplice to a crime said s/he wasn't in contact with the accused only to be proven was in fact in close proximity using the TT data. I'd say it is useful though there is no location information being stored.

Having said that, it was a mistake to not say data will be used by the police, minister in the video attached above admitted he has omitted considering the relevant law when spoke about data sharing. 

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Think its still legit lah.

They said use for contract tracing.

Even if Police don't use the TT, can also use mobile phone to trace the location of any person if they can get information from any of the telcos. 

All phones have location and they send and received signals......These are traces too.

TT is just a more simple way to trace location/proximity. 

 

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5 minutes ago, Atonchia said:

Think its still legit lah.

They said use for contract tracing.

Even if Police don't use the TT, can also use mobile phone to trace the location of any person if they can get information from any of the telcos. 

All phones have location and they send and received signals......These are traces too.

TT is just a more simple way to trace location/proximity. 

 

TT can validate 2 persons are within close proximity (a few meters) of each other for at least 20-30 mins.  

Mobile phone triangulation is maybe 25-100m, cannot confirm you are anywhere within touching distance of someone's ass. 😂

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so now you just piss off a whole bunch of criminals or would be criminals from using TT.

to hell with TT, if i get virus, everyone get virus. [laugh]

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23 minutes ago, Voodooman said:

TT can validate 2 persons are within close proximity (a few meters) of each other for at least 20-30 mins.  

Mobile phone triangulation is maybe 25-100m, cannot confirm you are anywhere within touching distance of someone's ass. 😂

Can this open up for private investigator? :grin:

Catching adultery will be solid. hahahahahahah

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45 minutes ago, kobayashiGT said:

Can this open up for private investigator? :grin:

Catching adultery will be solid. hahahahahahah

Think noone will cheat anymore, the thrill of getting caught is diminished, less fun. 😂

Edited by Voodooman
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