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Singapore Police May Use Contact Tracing Data for Investigations

Remarks follow privacy concerns about contact tracing program
TraceTogether is being used by around 78% of the population

TraceTogether has been adopted by about 78% of the city-state’s population of nearly 5.7 million. — TraceTogether has been adopted by about 78% of the city-state’s population of nearly 5.7 million.
Photographer: Catherine Lai/AFP/Getty Images

By

Philip Heijmans

January 4, 2021, 11:59 AM UTC

Singapore’s police force may use data acquired through its widely adopted contact tracing program for criminal investigations, a senior official said on Monday.

Replying to a question about the city-state’s TraceTogether program in parliament, Desmond Tan, minister of state at the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the police force was “empowered under the criminal procedure code to obtain any data, including TraceTogether data, for criminal investigations.”