TraceTogether Programme Data Deregistration (PQ Reply by Minister Vivian Balakrishnan)

Tracetogether Programme Data Deregistration

Fourteenth Parliament Of Singapore – First Session For The Sitting On 10 May 2021

Question

Ms He Ting Ru asked the Prime Minister (a) how many users have requested to be deregistered from the TraceTogether programme; and (b) whether the users making the requests will be notified that their data has been deleted following their request.

Answer

Written answer by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister-in-Charge of the Smart Nation Initiative and Minister for Foreign Affairs (for the Prime Minister)

As of the 30th of April 2021, there were 4,923,054 individuals on board the TraceTogether (TT) programme, or approximately 92% of the population above the age of 6 years. As of the same date, only 1,155 users (or 0.021% of the population above the age of 6 years) had requested deregistration from the TT programme.

TT App users who apply to deregister will be sent a SMS confirming that their request has been received. For users returning the TT Token, the officer receiving the token at the Community Centre will provide confirmation of the deregistration on the spot.

All TT registration data, including NRIC or contact number, is deleted from the TT server within 3 to 5 working days. Consequently, any data previously exchanged with other TT devices cannot be decrypted any longer. When the user uninstalls the app, all previously collected data will also be permanently deleted from the smartphone. In any case, all data is deleted from TT devices automatically after 25 days.

If a user had previously been identified as a close contact and uploaded his or her data to the Government’s server for contact tracing purposes, these records are retained. This is essential for public health reasons. Notwithstanding this, subsection 82(9) of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act allows the Minister to specify a date, once the pandemic is over, after which all personally identifiable contact tracing data must be deleted as soon as reasonably practicable.