Clarification by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister-in-Charge of the Smart Nation Initiative
Ministry of Foreign AffairsSpeakers
Summary
This clarification concerns the legal provisions surrounding the access and usage of TraceTogether data for criminal investigations by the Police. Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister-in-Charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Dr Vivian Balakrishnan stated that under Section 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Police have the power to order the production of data for such purposes. He explained that while privacy is protected for normal use cases, the data is not exempt from criminal investigation requirements. The statement also serves to issue a factual correction to the Minister's previous remarks delivered on 5 January 2021. Ultimately, it was concluded that the correct legal provision granting authority for these data orders is Section 20, rather than Section 22, of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Transcript
The following statements were in the clarification given by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan) during his clarification on the usage of TraceTogether data at the Sitting of 5 January 2021:
The Minister for Foreign Affairs (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): Third point: on legal provisions. Under section 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), the Police have the power to order anyone to produce data for the purposes of a criminal investigation. And the key word here is criminal investigation. We have gone to great lengths to protect the privacy of all TraceTogether users in all normal use cases. But TraceTogether data is not exempt from section 22 of the CPC. [Please refer to "Clarification by Minister for Foreign Affairs", Official Report, 5 January 2021, Volume 95, Issue No 15.]
Written statement by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan circulated with leave of the Speaker in accordance with Standing Order No 29(5):
I wish to make the following factual correction to the “Clarification by Minister for Foreign Affairs” that I delivered in Parliament at the Sitting of 5 January 2021. The following portion of the statement should read as follows:
The Minister for Foreign Affairs (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): Third point: on legal provisions. Under section 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), the Police have the power to order anyone to produce data for the purposes of a criminal investigation. And the key word here is criminal investigation. We have gone to great lengths to protect the privacy of all TraceTogether users in all normal use cases. But TraceTogether data is not exempt from section 20 of the CPC.