SINGAPORE, Feb 9 — With Singapore moving to the lowest level of the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (Dorscon) framework, individuals can now uninstall their TraceTogether app, while businesses can do the same for their SafeEntry business app.

However, both mobile applications will remain available on Apple’s App Store, Google Play Store and Huawei AppGallery for quick reactivation if needed, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a press release on Thursday (Feb 9)

MOH said that both apps had served Singapore well during the acute phase of the pandemic by accelerating contact tracing efforts and enabling the implementation of community safe management measures.

Nevertheless, over the past few months as the pandemic situation stabilised, the use of both apps has been progressively stepped down.

“We no longer require infected persons to submit TraceTogether data, (and) SafeEntry data is no longer being collected,” said MOH.

The ministry has also deleted all identifiable TraceTogether and SafeEntry data from its servers and databases.

TraceTogether data pertaining to a murder case in May 2020, however, will be retained indefinitely, said MOH. The ministry was referring to a murder case at Punggol Field, in which the police accessed TraceTogether data as part of its probe.

“This is especially necessary for serious cases such as murder, where legal applications may be made to challenge the conviction or sentence many years after the case has concluded, and the Singapore Police Force may be obliged to disclose the data,” said the ministry.

To minimise the steps taken to set up and re-register for both apps should they be needed again, registration details such as name, business unique entity number, and mobile number will be retained in the system, added MOH.

A TraceTogether token return exercise at all Community Clubs and Centres will also take place from Monday till March 12.

“We strongly encourage the public to return their tokens so that they can be refurbished and recycled for distribution to those who need it, should digital contact tracing operations have to be reactivated,” said MOH. — TODAY