1,155 have asked to opt out of TraceTogether programme
Some 1,155 users of national contact tracing programme TraceTogether have requested to opt out of the programme and for their data to be removed from its servers, Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan has revealed.
In a written answer to Workers' Party MP He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) on Monday, Dr Balakrishnan, who was replying on behalf of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said these users represented 0.021 per cent of the population above the age of six.
He also said that as at the end of last month, 4,923,054 individuals - or approximately 92 per cent of the population above the age of six - were on board the TraceTogether programme.
TraceTogether, which identifies people in close contact with a Covid-19 patient via a Bluetooth-enabled app or token, came under the spotlight earlier this year when it was revealed that its data could be used for criminal investigations, despite earlier assurances that it would be used solely for contact tracing.
The public backlash prompted the Government to enact legislation to restrict the use of contact tracing data, including that obtained under SafeEntry, to investigations under seven categories of serious crimes such as murder, terrorism, rape and armed robbery.
Dr Balakrishnan said that TraceTogether app users who apply to deregister will be sent an SMS confirming that their request has been received.
TraceTogether to be compulsory at many places from 1 June
SINGAPORE — The TraceTogether (TT) app or token will be made compulsory for checking into many places from 1 June, with other modes of SafeEntry discontinued.
These places include offices, eateries, shopping malls, schools, pre-schools, healthcare facilities, gyms and places of worship. The venues are those with a higher visitor throughput or have people who are in close proximity for relatively longer periods.
In a joint press release on Thursday (22 April), the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) said the app or token will also be compulsory for contact tracing at weddings and funerals.
More than 90 per cent of the population have downloaded the app or collected the token.
TT and SafeEntry have cut the average time taken to contact trace from four days to one-and-a-half days, said SNDGO and MOH.
"TT has helped to identify 75 persons who had to be placed under quarantine, but would likely not have been picked up through a manual contact tracing process, they said.
"This has been important in ensuring that the impact of any local cases detected were immediately contained, with very little further spread in the community," they added.
SNDGO and MOH said that with greater active usage of TT, the coverage and speed of contact tracing can be further enhanced.
"By actively participating in the TT programme and using SE, we can each play our part to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep Singapore safe. The Government will continue to improve the user experience of the TT programme and SE, and adjust the approach to keep digital contact tracing effective as the public health situation evolves," they added.
New SafeEntry Gateways to be set up at malls, cinemas, supermarkets and more public places
SINGAPORE: Checking in to a location via the TraceTogether token or mobile app will soon be a faster process with a new system called SafeEntry Gateway.
It allows visitors to check in by placing their TraceTogether tokens or mobile phone within 25cm of the gateway device or a box – similar to using an EZ-Link card on public transport.
The box will beep and show a green light if the check-in is successful. For those using mobile phones, the TraceTogether app must be open for the check-in to proceed.
Announcing this on Tuesday (Mar 16), the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG) said the SafeEntry Gateways will be deployed from Apr 19 at selected places with large numbers of visitors, such as malls, cinemas, hospitals and gated tourist attractions.
Other venues include large standalone retail outlets, supermarkets, public libraries, selected museums and galleries, MICE event venues, places of worship and funeral parlours with wake halls.
Public and private hospitals, national specialty centres, community hospitals and polyclinics will also need to deploy the gateways.
In addition, they will be set up at selected popular wet markets, including Geylang Serai Market, Chong Pang Market, the markets at Blocks 20 and 21 Marsiling Lane, and Block 505 Jurong West Street 52.
These venues will be required to deploy the SafeEntry Gateway in addition to the current SafeEntry check-in methods, said SNDGG.
The existing SafeEntry (Business) App will also be updated so that users can similarly place their token or phone near the operator’s phone to check in, said SNDGG.
Currently, some businesses use the SafeEntry (Business) App to scan QR codes on TraceTogether tokens or visitors’ identity cards.
Businesses can apply for one SafeEntry Gateway box to cover each existing manned public entry point at no charge, for up to four boxes. They can appeal for more boxes if they have more than four manned public entry points at their premises, SNDGG said on its website.
Other locations such as schools, gyms and F&B outlets for dine-in customers can also apply for one SafeEntry Gateway box at no charge, but the use of the SafeEntry Gateway at these venues will be optional.
Forced to download TT & SGSecure: The startling truth hidden in the reviews of government apps
In the light of grievances being aired relating to Singapore government apps—namely the technical issues with the TraceTogether app as well as the government’s revelation that the data from the app is accessible to the police despite earlier assurances that the data will only be used for contract tracing purposes—something peculiar and somewhat disturbing was highlighted in a reddit/r/Singapore thread.
Specifically, that many people have been forced to leave positive reviews on government apps in order to boost the app ratings on both the Appstore and Google Playstore.
A couple of people who were full-time National Servicemen (NSFs) noted that they were forced to download the TraceTogether app or sign up for extra duty shifts, or even be charged for insubordination.
This prompted several other reddit users to share about how they were forced to download the government’s anti-terrorism app, SGSecure and leave a positive review, while they were serving their national service. They, too, were faced with the same threat of signing up for extra shifts if they did not download the app.
One person even said that they could be “literally charged for Disobedience of General Orders” for not downloading the app.
This extends to apps, as another person said they were asked to ‘like’ Facebook pages that were associated to the Ministry of Defence and to leave positive reviews for the NS cookhouse.
Sifting through the thousands of reviews of the SGSecure app on both the Apple Appstore and Google Playstore revealed two things.
First, many 5-star reviews that were hyperbolic in describing the effectiveness of the SGSecure app. It is arguably one of the best displays of Singapore’s unique brand of humour on the internet.
On a more serious note, there were also many 1-star as well as 5-star reviews in which people stressed that they had only downloaded the app because they were forced to while they were serving national service.
CSJ: The TraceTogether saga is another sad – and frightening – chapter of our political history
What’s the big deal, some say? It’ll only be used by the police for criminal investigations. Nothing to fuss about if you’re not anywhere near the underworld. Perhaps.
But there’s also POFMA. Remember all the hand-wringing when the PAP told us something had to be done about deliberate online falsehoods?
Post-legislation, the Act was used by the government even to insist that it’s interpretation of statistical data is the true and correct one, leaving the “offending” party to seek redress through the courts if it disputes the state’s assertion – a process that is thoroughly onerous in terms of funds and time.
Then there’s the complete shutdown of space for political dissent – and even for not-so-political actions. Name me one other government that prosecutes a lone activist carrying a placard with Mr Smiley on it.
But like the TT matter, you say, what’s the big deal if you’re not into posting anything that might be remotely of public interest or that you’ll just stay clear of carrying any placards.
But here’s why it matters – and matters to you and your family.
The use of TT other than exclusively for Covid19 matters, the constriction of online space, the throttling of even the most benign of political dissent, the employment of defamation laws, the castigation of academics, just to cite a few examples, cast a long and pernicious shadow on Singaporeans’ psyche.
When people know they are being watched and sanctioned, self-censorship becomes the norm. It becomes baked into society’s culture.
And here’s when it gets really dangerous: We think and behave as if such censorship, whether state- or self-imposed, is not just normal but necessary.
Generations of citizens have been told that without such officially proscribed and prescribed views, we become ungovernable. Such control ensures unity lest society degenerates into disrepair and chaos. Besides, we are Asian and so value community over self – government-speak for the notion that people need to be lorded over.
Through decades of such inculcation, thinking among the people has become limited and stunted. Anyone and everyone who colours outside the lines becomes a subject for censure and punishment.
Let me be clear: For a modern society to function, there must be law and order. But I repeat, the rule of law and the respect for order need not result in the kind of censorship that we have here in Singapore.
The freedom to think and express ourselves, to peacefully assemble and to form associations are not niceties to have. They are rights indelibly written into our Constitution. They are, obviously, not absolute but they may also not be expurgated just because the ruling party finds it politically advantageous to do so.
Not only are these rights constitutionally mandated, they are freedoms crucial to our continued progress as a nation.
The dismal state of our nation today did not come about by accident. It is the result of decades of control imposed by a powerful few within one political party, control that has resulted in our collective mind-rot.
This has produced worryingly deficient outcomes. Whether it is economic performance, mental health, suicide rate, birth rate, emigration rate, outlook of our youths, labour productivity, wage levels – national indicators hardly signal a future of hope and confidence.
On the future of our economy in particular, I’ve said it elsewhere and I’ll repeat it here: political rights and economic development occupy two sides of the same coin. You can’t have the latter without the former, especially not at this juncture of our nation’s development given the exponential rise of technology.
With widespread and deep-seated censorship, we cannot compete in the world of innovation where the clash of ideas and challenge of orthodoxies are the norm. Whether it is in commerce, scientific inquiry or the arts, freedom of expression is to progress what flour is to bread. Conformist thinking, on the other hand, is a one-way ticket to irrelevance and obscurity.
Censorship and progress, if it needs to be said, are mortal enemies.
We are on the last legs of an unsustainable, rentier economy propped up by an ossified political system long past its expiry date. No matter how many foreigners we bring in and regardless of the number of them we convert to citizens, with a society and political culture that threatens rather than inspires and stymies rather than motivates, this country is on a gradual but inexorable decline. When our society was young, we were talked to like children. But as society grows up, we must discard our childish ways of thinking and behave in a manner befitting an intelligent and mature people.
The sooner we realise that this autocratic system robs us of our future, the sooner we can start building a quality life for our nation, our loved ones and ourselves.
If society is going to imagine a vibrant future, if our younger generations are going to be among the leaders of the world, and if our citizens aspire to live fulfilled lives, then we need to embark on the urgent road of reform.
Pushing back against the TT U-turns, the POFMAs, the criminalisation of political action – that is, standing up to the autocrats – are a good and necessary start. But more, much more, needs to be done.
Forget The TraceTogether Data. Can We Trust The Government To Keep Their Word?
What a start to the year. On Monday, the inaugural Parliament livestream triggered a real-time outcry over the collection and use of TraceTogether data.
Contrary to prior assurances that TraceTogether data would only be used for contact tracing, Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan clarified that the police are, in fact, legally empowered under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to access said data for criminal investigations. The TraceTogether website FAQ was then updated to reflect this, ostensibly in the interests of ‘transparency’. Cue the first social media uproar of 2021.
Some shrugged, saying they had nothing to hide. Some responded with “I told you so”. Still others were suspicious, if not livid, about the blatant U-turn. And of course, many more turned to memes.
Whichever camp you’re in, it’s clear that this revelation undermines the extensive efforts to win public support for TraceTogether, and feeds into earlier anxieties that it could be supposedly abused as a hidden tracking device.
To be honest, even with this latest development, it’s probably not worth getting worked up about location racking. TraceTogether works by detecting proximity to other devices, not location. Expert teardowns of the token last year concluded that it did not have a GPS function and was “unlikely to be a useful tracking device” (though this was at least partially based on assurances that only MOH’s contact tracers would ever see the data)
And as Minister Tan’s comments revealed, the remit of the CPC means that law enforcement is already empowered to access far more useful data, such as SafeEntry records—which, by the way, were also meant to be ‘for Covid-19 purposes only’.
What the clarification does do is raise questions over how exactly the proximity data might become useful to the police, whether there is potential for it to be misused, and what sorts of offences are quote-unquote ‘serious’ enough to trigger the exception.
It invites incredulity as to how Minister Balakrishnan could have overlooked the CPC during his PR offensive for TraceTogether last year. And it encourages anxieties over the inconsistencies and back-pedalling in government communications.
These are all serious issues, but not the real source of public ire; nor is there any evidence that this was a deliberate conspiracy to mislead the public. What this episode really invites us to consider is a question of trust: whether the government can be relied on to keep its word, with no catch involved.
Optics-wise, it’s a terrible look: a communications blunder that could have been easily avoided, and a breach of public trust for no good reason.
As far as rights concerns in Singapore go, data privacy and surveillance have seldom been a priority. Last year’s PDPA consultation went largely ignored by the public; many of us—myself included—remain oblivious to the sensors, cameras, and GPS devices #disrupting and #innovating and #connecting our way into Smart Nationhood (like the time it was proposed to embed our lamp posts with facial recognition technology). Meanwhile, legislation like the ISA casts a long, dark shadow over our willingness, historically, to make trade-offs between civil liberties and national security.
By these standards, the hostility towards TraceTogether, even prior to this incident, was unusual.
Last year, the announcement of the token was greeted with a petition in protest, garnering over 50,000 signatures in a few days. Following months of will-they-won’t-they coyness—Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had previously said that TraceTogether would be “voluntary for long as possible”, but stopped short of a definitive statement—October’s announcement that TraceTogether would eventually be mandatory in certain circumstances raised enough eyebrows for MP He Ting Ru to bring it up in Parliament. And a Blackbox Research survey from last month showed that 32% of Singaporeans doubted that TraceTogether data would only be used for Covid-19 monitoring.
TraceTogether, in other words, was always a hard sell. But had the government been upfront about the CPC caveat last year, chances are that the public, despite its unease, would have understood.
Unfortunately, thanks to its own insistence that the data would be used for contact tracing and contact tracing only, people are not only uneasy, but outraged that the government has gone back on its word.
The irony is all too keen, given how the successful implementation of TraceTogether relies on mutual trust between citizens and the state. Mass adoption of the technology—enough to trigger Phase 3—was arguably earned, at least in part, on the expectation that the government would honour its promises. Nor is it reassuring that despite the lessons of last year’s GE, public goodwill appears to have been taken for granted.
What does this mean going forward? For one, potentially more road-bumps to realising our vision of having “everyone, everything, everywhere, all the time”. (I’m not kidding; this is the actual plan underscoring our transformation into a living dataset).
This debacle suggests that distrust might colour the way future data-collection practices are viewed. The fears around a slippery slope are not unjustified: is there a clear line that the government will not cross when it comes to using our personal data?
Most of us understand there are trade-offs to be made in any policy decision, and realise that in some instances, the potential benefits to public health or national security may outweigh the costs. But an informed choice means those costs should be declared to begin with.
More troubling is how episodes like this one encourage cynicism towards governance.
It behooves no-one to reach a point where we believe that the government is flying the plane and we’re all just strapped in for the ride. After all, if we suspect that back-doors and hidden T&Cs will always be introduced after the fact, why listen in the first place?
Data might be the commodity of this century, but public trust is just as valuable an asset. Since Monday’s revelation, Ministers Shanmugam and Balakrishnan have been in full-on damage control mode, giving more assurances that the TraceTogether data is only retained for 25 days and that law enforcement must exercise their powers with ‘the utmost restraint’, giving the example of how TraceTogether data was used to solve a murder case.
It remains to be seen if, this time, words will be enough. Or maybe we’ll just have to wait a couple of months for another clarification.
Lim Tean: Appalled by the PAP arguments in Parliament on why the police would be allowed use of the TraceTogether information
I was frankly appalled by the PAP arguments in Parliament yesterday on why the police would be allowed use of the TraceTogether information in “serious” crimes.
It was pathetic that Vivian Balakrishnan – who assured Singaporeans last June that the TraceTogether data would only be for use to combat the virus – could tell Singaporeans that he did not realise the implications of the Criminal Procedure Code when he gave the assurance and that he had had sleepless nights deliberating whether he should try to persuade his colleagues to change the law.
When he gave the assurance last June, he would have known that there were real concerns in the public that the information could be used for other purposes, and that was why the assurance was given. And when the government has given its word, they should jolly well change the law, which can easily be done, if that is what is needed to keep their word. Don’t hide behind the skirt of some law like the Criminal Procedure Code, to backtrack on your promise to Singaporeans.
They need not even change the law if they were serious about keeping their word. The Government could issue a directive to the Police that they would not be allowed access to the information, period. Look how resolute the Australian Government has been in not granting the Australian Police access to their tracing information.
Shanmugam’s argument that there could be judicial review challenges if the police are absolutely prohibited from accessing the information is nonsense. It once again attempts to introduce fallacious legal arguments to cloud a clear-cut issue. Once a Government has issued an assurance, that constitutes a compact with the citizens and to suggest that the courts will go behind that compact is rubbish.
It is Singaporeans, and not Vivian Balakrishnan, who should be losing a lot of sleep over this Government volte-face, and it is consistent with how they went back on their word that CPF could be withdrawn at 55 and how HDB properties will become valueless at the end of 99 years when the earlier assurance was that it would be always rise in value.
And in November 2019, Lee Hsien Loong told Singaporeans they had to give the PAP a strong mandate, as the world was watching, especially at a time of leadership transition. After the GE, the narrative led by Jayakumar changed to “Let’s not change horses midstream”! These useless so called 4G Ministers can’t even take over after years of sitting in Government.
Finally, it was very sad to see that none of the so-called ‘Lawyer’ MPs had the courage to interrogate the PAP Ministers more forcefully in Parliament over this issue the last 2 days.
Their arguments should have been shredded to pieces in the full glare of live TV.
Legislation to be introduced setting out serious offences for which TraceTogether data can be used for police probe
SINGAPORE: The Government will introduce legislation setting out seven categories of serious offences for which TraceTogether data can be used for police investigations, said the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) on Friday (Jan 8).
These include offences related to terrorism, drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping and serious sexual offences such as rape.
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 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.
SG is a police state in the making, yet majority of our fellow denser than dense Sinkies will still gladly embrace PAP becoming bona fide big brother down the road.
1,155 have asked to opt out of TraceTogether programme
Some 1,155 users of national contact tracing programme TraceTogether have requested to opt out of the programme and for their data to be removed from its servers, Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan has revealed.
In a written answer to Workers' Party MP He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) on Monday, Dr Balakrishnan, who was replying on behalf of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said these users represented 0.021 per cent of the population above the age of six.
He also said that as at the end of last month, 4,923,054 individuals - or approximately 92 per cent of the population above the age of six - were on board the TraceTogether programme.
TraceTogether, which identifies people in close contact with a Covid-19 patient via a Bluetooth-enabled app or token, came under the spotlight earlier this year when it was revealed that its data could be used for criminal investigations, despite earlier assurances that it would be used solely for contact tracing.
The public backlash prompted the Government to enact legislation to restrict the use of contact tracing data, including that obtained under SafeEntry, to investigations under seven categories of serious crimes such as murder, terrorism, rape and armed robbery.
Dr Balakrishnan said that TraceTogether app users who apply to deregister will be sent an SMS confirming that their request has been received.
More at https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/1155-have-asked-to-opt-out-of-tracetogether-programme
FYI.
Had my TraceTogether token replaced at Buona Vista CC because its battery went flat. If you collected yours last year, it's probably time to trade up.
TraceTogether to be compulsory at many places from 1 June
SINGAPORE — The TraceTogether (TT) app or token will be made compulsory for checking into many places from 1 June, with other modes of SafeEntry discontinued.
These places include offices, eateries, shopping malls, schools, pre-schools, healthcare facilities, gyms and places of worship. The venues are those with a higher visitor throughput or have people who are in close proximity for relatively longer periods.
In a joint press release on Thursday (22 April), the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) said the app or token will also be compulsory for contact tracing at weddings and funerals.
More than 90 per cent of the population have downloaded the app or collected the token.
TT and SafeEntry have cut the average time taken to contact trace from four days to one-and-a-half days, said SNDGO and MOH.
"TT has helped to identify 75 persons who had to be placed under quarantine, but would likely not have been picked up through a manual contact tracing process, they said.
"This has been important in ensuring that the impact of any local cases detected were immediately contained, with very little further spread in the community," they added.
SNDGO and MOH said that with greater active usage of TT, the coverage and speed of contact tracing can be further enhanced.
"By actively participating in the TT programme and using SE, we can each play our part to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep Singapore safe. The Government will continue to improve the user experience of the TT programme and SE, and adjust the approach to keep digital contact tracing effective as the public health situation evolves," they added.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/trace-together-compulsory-many-places-june-041654113.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/k06pfi/what_happens_when_you_collect_your_tracetogether/
PSA: Have your token replaced at any community centre when its battery goes flat
New SafeEntry Gateways to be set up at malls, cinemas, supermarkets and more public places
SINGAPORE: Checking in to a location via the TraceTogether token or mobile app will soon be a faster process with a new system called SafeEntry Gateway.
It allows visitors to check in by placing their TraceTogether tokens or mobile phone within 25cm of the gateway device or a box – similar to using an EZ-Link card on public transport.
The box will beep and show a green light if the check-in is successful. For those using mobile phones, the TraceTogether app must be open for the check-in to proceed.
Announcing this on Tuesday (Mar 16), the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG) said the SafeEntry Gateways will be deployed from Apr 19 at selected places with large numbers of visitors, such as malls, cinemas, hospitals and gated tourist attractions.
Other venues include large standalone retail outlets, supermarkets, public libraries, selected museums and galleries, MICE event venues, places of worship and funeral parlours with wake halls.
Public and private hospitals, national specialty centres, community hospitals and polyclinics will also need to deploy the gateways.
In addition, they will be set up at selected popular wet markets, including Geylang Serai Market, Chong Pang Market, the markets at Blocks 20 and 21 Marsiling Lane, and Block 505 Jurong West Street 52.
These venues will be required to deploy the SafeEntry Gateway in addition to the current SafeEntry check-in methods, said SNDGG.
The existing SafeEntry (Business) App will also be updated so that users can similarly place their token or phone near the operator’s phone to check in, said SNDGG.
Currently, some businesses use the SafeEntry (Business) App to scan QR codes on TraceTogether tokens or visitors’ identity cards.
Businesses can apply for one SafeEntry Gateway box to cover each existing manned public entry point at no charge, for up to four boxes. They can appeal for more boxes if they have more than four manned public entry points at their premises, SNDGG said on its website.
Other locations such as schools, gyms and F&B outlets for dine-in customers can also apply for one SafeEntry Gateway box at no charge, but the use of the SafeEntry Gateway at these venues will be optional.
More at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/safeentry-gateways-deployed-malls-cinemas-supermarkets-14418004
New TraceTogether token design!
Forced to download TT & SGSecure: The startling truth hidden in the reviews of government apps
In the light of grievances being aired relating to Singapore government apps—namely the technical issues with the TraceTogether app as well as the government’s revelation that the data from the app is accessible to the police despite earlier assurances that the data will only be used for contract tracing purposes—something peculiar and somewhat disturbing was highlighted in a reddit/r/Singapore thread.
Specifically, that many people have been forced to leave positive reviews on government apps in order to boost the app ratings on both the Appstore and Google Playstore.
A couple of people who were full-time National Servicemen (NSFs) noted that they were forced to download the TraceTogether app or sign up for extra duty shifts, or even be charged for insubordination.
This prompted several other reddit users to share about how they were forced to download the government’s anti-terrorism app, SGSecure and leave a positive review, while they were serving their national service. They, too, were faced with the same threat of signing up for extra shifts if they did not download the app.
One person even said that they could be “literally charged for Disobedience of General Orders” for not downloading the app.
This extends to apps, as another person said they were asked to ‘like’ Facebook pages that were associated to the Ministry of Defence and to leave positive reviews for the NS cookhouse.
Sifting through the thousands of reviews of the SGSecure app on both the Apple Appstore and Google Playstore revealed two things.
First, many 5-star reviews that were hyperbolic in describing the effectiveness of the SGSecure app. It is arguably one of the best displays of Singapore’s unique brand of humour on the internet.
On a more serious note, there were also many 1-star as well as 5-star reviews in which people stressed that they had only downloaded the app because they were forced to while they were serving national service.
More at https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2021/01/14/forced-to-download-tt-sgsecure-the-startling-truth-hidden-in-the-reviews-of-government-apps/
Forget The TraceTogether Data. Can We Trust The Government To Keep Their Word?
What a start to the year. On Monday, the inaugural Parliament livestream triggered a real-time outcry over the collection and use of TraceTogether data.
Contrary to prior assurances that TraceTogether data would only be used for contact tracing, Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan clarified that the police are, in fact, legally empowered under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to access said data for criminal investigations. The TraceTogether website FAQ was then updated to reflect this, ostensibly in the interests of ‘transparency’. Cue the first social media uproar of 2021.
Some shrugged, saying they had nothing to hide. Some responded with “I told you so”. Still others were suspicious, if not livid, about the blatant U-turn. And of course, many more turned to memes.
Whichever camp you’re in, it’s clear that this revelation undermines the extensive efforts to win public support for TraceTogether, and feeds into earlier anxieties that it could be supposedly abused as a hidden tracking device.
To be honest, even with this latest development, it’s probably not worth getting worked up about location racking. TraceTogether works by detecting proximity to other devices, not location. Expert teardowns of the token last year concluded that it did not have a GPS function and was “unlikely to be a useful tracking device” (though this was at least partially based on assurances that only MOH’s contact tracers would ever see the data)
And as Minister Tan’s comments revealed, the remit of the CPC means that law enforcement is already empowered to access far more useful data, such as SafeEntry records—which, by the way, were also meant to be ‘for Covid-19 purposes only’.
What the clarification does do is raise questions over how exactly the proximity data might become useful to the police, whether there is potential for it to be misused, and what sorts of offences are quote-unquote ‘serious’ enough to trigger the exception.
It invites incredulity as to how Minister Balakrishnan could have overlooked the CPC during his PR offensive for TraceTogether last year. And it encourages anxieties over the inconsistencies and back-pedalling in government communications.
Optics-wise, it’s a terrible look: a communications blunder that could have been easily avoided, and a breach of public trust for no good reason.
As far as rights concerns in Singapore go, data privacy and surveillance have seldom been a priority. Last year’s PDPA consultation went largely ignored by the public; many of us—myself included—remain oblivious to the sensors, cameras, and GPS devices #disrupting and #innovating and #connecting our way into Smart Nationhood (like the time it was proposed to embed our lamp posts with facial recognition technology). Meanwhile, legislation like the ISA casts a long, dark shadow over our willingness, historically, to make trade-offs between civil liberties and national security.
By these standards, the hostility towards TraceTogether, even prior to this incident, was unusual.
Last year, the announcement of the token was greeted with a petition in protest, garnering over 50,000 signatures in a few days. Following months of will-they-won’t-they coyness—Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had previously said that TraceTogether would be “voluntary for long as possible”, but stopped short of a definitive statement—October’s announcement that TraceTogether would eventually be mandatory in certain circumstances raised enough eyebrows for MP He Ting Ru to bring it up in Parliament. And a Blackbox Research survey from last month showed that 32% of Singaporeans doubted that TraceTogether data would only be used for Covid-19 monitoring.
TraceTogether, in other words, was always a hard sell. But had the government been upfront about the CPC caveat last year, chances are that the public, despite its unease, would have understood.
Unfortunately, thanks to its own insistence that the data would be used for contact tracing and contact tracing only, people are not only uneasy, but outraged that the government has gone back on its word.
The irony is all too keen, given how the successful implementation of TraceTogether relies on mutual trust between citizens and the state. Mass adoption of the technology—enough to trigger Phase 3—was arguably earned, at least in part, on the expectation that the government would honour its promises. Nor is it reassuring that despite the lessons of last year’s GE, public goodwill appears to have been taken for granted.
What does this mean going forward? For one, potentially more road-bumps to realising our vision of having “everyone, everything, everywhere, all the time”. (I’m not kidding; this is the actual plan underscoring our transformation into a living dataset).
This debacle suggests that distrust might colour the way future data-collection practices are viewed. The fears around a slippery slope are not unjustified: is there a clear line that the government will not cross when it comes to using our personal data?
Most of us understand there are trade-offs to be made in any policy decision, and realise that in some instances, the potential benefits to public health or national security may outweigh the costs. But an informed choice means those costs should be declared to begin with.
More troubling is how episodes like this one encourage cynicism towards governance.
It behooves no-one to reach a point where we believe that the government is flying the plane and we’re all just strapped in for the ride. After all, if we suspect that back-doors and hidden T&Cs will always be introduced after the fact, why listen in the first place?
Data might be the commodity of this century, but public trust is just as valuable an asset. Since Monday’s revelation, Ministers Shanmugam and Balakrishnan have been in full-on damage control mode, giving more assurances that the TraceTogether data is only retained for 25 days and that law enforcement must exercise their powers with ‘the utmost restraint’, giving the example of how TraceTogether data was used to solve a murder case.
It remains to be seen if, this time, words will be enough. Or maybe we’ll just have to wait a couple of months for another clarification.
https://www.ricemedia.co/current-affairs-commentary-tracetogether-data-public-trust-government-keep-its-word/
The fact that the TT app is requesting location permission reeks of fishy to the max.
prEEtipls is wondering if she should delete the TraceTogether app.......
"I craned my ears to hear the words of apology that never came."
Will ugly old virgin Chua Mui Hoong be fixed by Ah Loong soon?
https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/krg535/how_the_parliamentary_probe_of_tracetogether/
Lim Tean: Appalled by the PAP arguments in Parliament on why the police would be allowed use of the TraceTogether information
I was frankly appalled by the PAP arguments in Parliament yesterday on why the police would be allowed use of the TraceTogether information in “serious” crimes.
It was pathetic that Vivian Balakrishnan – who assured Singaporeans last June that the TraceTogether data would only be for use to combat the virus – could tell Singaporeans that he did not realise the implications of the Criminal Procedure Code when he gave the assurance and that he had had sleepless nights deliberating whether he should try to persuade his colleagues to change the law.
When he gave the assurance last June, he would have known that there were real concerns in the public that the information could be used for other purposes, and that was why the assurance was given. And when the government has given its word, they should jolly well change the law, which can easily be done, if that is what is needed to keep their word. Don’t hide behind the skirt of some law like the Criminal Procedure Code, to backtrack on your promise to Singaporeans.
They need not even change the law if they were serious about keeping their word. The Government could issue a directive to the Police that they would not be allowed access to the information, period. Look how resolute the Australian Government has been in not granting the Australian Police access to their tracing information.
Shanmugam’s argument that there could be judicial review challenges if the police are absolutely prohibited from accessing the information is nonsense. It once again attempts to introduce fallacious legal arguments to cloud a clear-cut issue. Once a Government has issued an assurance, that constitutes a compact with the citizens and to suggest that the courts will go behind that compact is rubbish.
It is Singaporeans, and not Vivian Balakrishnan, who should be losing a lot of sleep over this Government volte-face, and it is consistent with how they went back on their word that CPF could be withdrawn at 55 and how HDB properties will become valueless at the end of 99 years when the earlier assurance was that it would be always rise in value.
And in November 2019, Lee Hsien Loong told Singaporeans they had to give the PAP a strong mandate, as the world was watching, especially at a time of leadership transition. After the GE, the narrative led by Jayakumar changed to “Let’s not change horses midstream”! These useless so called 4G Ministers can’t even take over after years of sitting in Government.
Finally, it was very sad to see that none of the so-called ‘Lawyer’ MPs had the courage to interrogate the PAP Ministers more forcefully in Parliament over this issue the last 2 days.
Their arguments should have been shredded to pieces in the full glare of live TV.
FUCK VIVIAN!!!!!
Meet Desmond Tan, the nincompoop who didn't knew when to shut up, and now PAP is under heavy fire because of him.
Vivian attempts to clarify TraceTogether's purposes and access in parliament:
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 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.
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.