Bill on TraceTogether data use on Parliament agenda for Monday

A Bill to formalise assurances that data from the Covid-19 TraceTogether contact tracing programme can be used to look into only serious offences such as murder, terrorism and rape, if needed for criminal investigation, is set to be debated in Parliament next week.

According to the agenda set in the Order Paper issued by the Clerk of Parliament yesterday, the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Amendment) Bill will be introduced by the Minister for Law.

It will be introduced on a Certificate of Urgency, which means that the proposed law is urgent enough to be put through all three readings in one parliamentary sitting, instead of separate sessions.

The proposed law will specify that personal data collected through digital contact tracing solutions, which comprise the TraceTogether and SafeEntry programmes, can be used only for contact tracing, the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office had said on Jan 8.

An exception, however, is if there is a "clear and pressing" need to use that data for criminal investigations into seven categories of serious offences.

The move follows an outcry after Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan revealed on Jan 4 that under the Criminal Procedure Code, police can obtain any data under Singapore's jurisdiction for criminal investigations, including TraceTogether data.

It appeared to contradict statements the Government had made last year - that TraceTogether data would be used only for contact tracing to tackle the pandemic.

Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) also filed an adjournment motion for Monday's parliamentary session on the preservation of Dover Forest in Ulu Pandan.

Other issues on the agenda include Singapore's vaccination programme and the Ministry of Education's policies and guidelines on students with gender dysphoria.

Nine new Nominated MPs are also set to take their oaths of allegiance on Monday after they were appointed on Jan 21.