SEPTEMBER 9 — I was heartened to see the recent headlines in Singapore that the needless/relentless collection of our identity card or NRIC numbers will be curbed.
For most of my adult life, I have been asked to jot down this number for any number of trivial issues from entering giveaway competitions to accessing a car park.
While most Singaporeans have become habituated to giving away our NRIC numbers at multiple points, the reality is that this number is the most important state-issued identifier. Attached to it is our Singpass which reveals our income tax, provident fund etc.
The Straits Times reported from Sept 1 next year, it will be illegal for organisations in Singapore to collect, use or disclose NRIC numbers or make photocopies of the identity card, under stricter rules spelt out by the Personal Data Protection Commission.
Commenting on the move, the commissioner said: “In today’s digital economy, indiscriminate collection or negligent handling of NRIC numbers can increase the risk of unintended disclosure and may result in NRIC numbers being used for illegal activities such as identity theft or fraud.”
Great right? It’s about time, I say.
The more pertinent question would be why we were giving it out so easily to begin with.
The answer seems to be this belief so many of us are guilty of: that protecting our privacy is somehow the responsibility of the state or social media sites.
It is everyone else’s responsibility but our own.
When a third-party app sells the data we handed over unquestioningly and unthinkingly, can we really blame them?
Ninety-nine per cent of people, including myself, are extremely careless with their data.
While we aren’t always in control and can find cookies and spyware taking our private information stealthily, the reality is there are things we can and ought to do.
There are data and privacy settings on our apps and phones that can dramatically reduce the amount of information we give out but how many of us are aware of the steps we can take?
It’s important to realise that every bit of personal information — location, browsing history, the music we listen to — has value. Once we realise this value, we will automatically be more cautious in terms of giving this commodity away.
NRIC numbers are less than the tip of the iceberg. From iris scans to finger prints to the health records swallowed by insurance companies everytime you give out personal information, ask yourself if it is neccessary, where it will be stored and what use that data could be put to.
More than just data, we should also question every time someone puts up a camera — who are they recording and why? Whenever I have expressed concerns over the excessive use of CCTVs, I often hear a response along the lines of “but if you don’t do anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about what. Let the government record loh.”
I am puzzled by this perspective. It strikes me as short-sighted and frankly frightening — the more willing we are to hand over our privacy, the less we will have.
Then in a few years when your every move is recorded by either the state or the massive corporations that thrive on your existence as data packet — it will be too late to undo it.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
