Under the proposed Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) rules, building managers would be barred from keeping identity cards in exchange for visitor passes (Watchdog seeks stricter protection of NRIC data; Nov 8, 2017).

However, the PDPC does not spell out how security officers are to handle negative scenarios, which are highly possible and could arise with the new rules.

Will government buildings such as army camps and police headquarters be barred from retaining ICs, too?

Can we refuse to give our ICs to the police when being screened?

Check-in agents at airports and cruise centres may face problems with proper identification for passengers who do self-check-ins.

The new rules are also not in line with SGSecure.

At most buildings, the exchange of passes is not just for numerical data collection, but also to restrict access so as to keep out loiterers and people with ill intentions.

In case of an emergency, the security staff would also know how many outsiders are in the building.

The PDPC should recommend solutions to these problems rather than leave them to the retailers or building managers to solve.

Shah Pakri