The TraceTogether scheme, one of the most widely used in any country, has raised privacy fears but authorities have said the data is encrypted, stored locally and only tapped by authorities if individuals test positive for COVID-19. "The Singapore Police Force is empowered ... to obtain any data, including TraceTogether data, for criminal investigations," Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan said in response to a question in parliament. The privacy statement on the TraceTogether website says: "data will only be used for COVID-19 contact tracing". "Concerns have focused on data security issues associated with the collection, use and storage of the data," law firm Norton Rose Fullbright said on Singapore's scheme in a review of global contact-tracing technology last month. Asked about the TraceTogether privacy statement by an opposition MP, Tan said: "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."

Source: bd News24 January 04, 2021 09:22 UTC