新加坡个人信息保护新规：机构索取身份证号码需征求同意

10. 总结

政府非常重视NRIC号码的安全使用。尽管当前已有相关的数据保护法律和规定，但由于不当使用NRIC号码的现象仍然存在，政府决定采取进一步措施，以保障公众个人信息的安全。未来，政府将加强与公众和私营部门的合作，推动改革，并在此过程中确保个人信息得到应有的保护。

通过这一系列的改革措施，政府希望能够提高公众对NRIC号码使用的认知，避免其被误用或滥用。同时，政府也向社会各界传递了一个重要的信息，即数据安全和个人隐私保护将继续是政府的优先事项，公众和企业应共同努力，确保这一目标的实现。

以下是英文质询内容：

The Minister for Digital Development and Information (Mrs Josephine Teo): Mr Speaker, Members have filed a total of 51 Parliamentary Questions (PQs) on the National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) policy and the disclosure of NRIC numbers on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority's (ACRA's) Bizfile portal. Second Minister for Finance Ms Indranee Rajah and I will be making Ministerial Statements to address the issues raised. Our Statements will address Question Nos 1 to 37 for oral answer in yesterday’s Order Paper; Question Nos 3 to 8 and 39 to 44 for written answer in yesterday’s Order Paper; Question No 52 for oral answer in today’s Order Paper, and related questions that have been filed for subsequent Sittings.

Mr Speaker: Please go ahead.

Mrs Josephine Teo: Sir, let me start by acknowledging the concerns raised by the public over NRIC policy. The Bizfile incident is unfortunate.

Without intending to, it may have led the public to believe that the Government is changing its policy to allow full NRIC numbers to be exposed on a wide scale. This is not the case. We take the public's concerns very seriously and are very sorry that the mistake has caused them much anxiety.

I want to reassure the public that NRIC numbers remain personal data. NRIC numbers can only be collected when there is a need to do so. Organisations that collect NRIC numbers also have a duty of care. Subject to applicable law, they must notify and seek consent on use, and ensure protection of the data. These are existing guidelines that will not change.

However, there are also some incorrect uses of the NRIC number today. Our plan was to stop these incorrect uses while the problem is relatively contained. Doing so will better protect everyone and allow us to use NRIC numbers with confidence.

In this regard, my Statement today will address two issues: the current incorrect uses of NRIC numbers and why we need to change; and what our next steps will be.

Sir, when we interact with others daily, we are identified by our names. However, our names may not be unique. For organisations that deal with many people, say, a hospital with several patients named John Tan, they need a better way to uniquely identify them. Their NRIC number is a useful unique identifier in such situations. When the hospital needs to perform an operation or dispense medication, the doctor or nurse must make absolutely sure that it is the right John Tan they are dealing with and they should ask you, "What is your NRIC number?"

Since the NRIC number's purpose is to be a unique identifier, it cannot be a secret, just as our names are not secret. I should emphasise, however, that while your NRIC number is not a secret, it is not meant to be widely disclosed. This is the concern echoed in Mr Lim Biow Chuan's question.

We would only disclose our NRIC number under certain circumstances, for example, when required by law. Some examples include disclosing our NRIC number to our employers, at the clinic or when we subscribe to a mobile telephone line. Because we do have to disclose our NRIC number to others for such purposes, we must assume that at least some people know our NRIC number.

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