Singapore proposes law to use tracing data in serious crimes

A person sits on a lounger at Marina Bay in the central business district (CBD) of Singapore. The government has acknowledged the error in not stating that the data wasn’t exempt from Singapore’s criminal code. — Bloomberg

Singapore introduced a bill on Feb 1 in parliament to formalise the use of contact tracing data in criminal investigations for serious offenses, after it was revealed that such information was already used in a murder case.

The law will specify government agencies can use contact tracing data only for this purpose, except where there is a need for law enforcement officers to use the data for criminal investigations of serious offenses, the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office said in a statement on Monday. Such offenses include murder, terrorism, kidnapping and serious sexual offenses.