The Singaporean government has apologized for causing public concern after a new platform mistakenly revealed full NRIC numbers. The government clarified that the change to unmask NRIC numbers was intended to improve public protection, but a communication error led to the unintended release of sensitive information.
The government has apologized for causing anxiety and confusion among the public over the unmasking of NRIC numbers on the Bizfile platform. Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said, 'We are very sorry to have caused them much anxiety,' emphasizing that the public's concerns are taken seriously.
Speaking at a joint press conference on Thursday (Dec 19), she clarified that the move to eventually unmask NRIC numbers was to give the public 'better protection', as the current situation leaves people vulnerable. The government’s plans to discontinue the use of masked NRIC numbers was meant to be implemented first on new services, and subsequently older services as they get updated. Implementing it in the private sector would only happen after a public consultation was done, said Teo. The authorities had wanted to make the change after explaining its rationale, but a 'miscommunication' regarding its implementation led to the launch of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority's (Acra) new Bizfile platform on Dec 9, which had a search function that produced people's full NRIC numbers with their names. Chia-Tern Huey Min, chief executive of Acra, said on Thursday that mistake was caused by a 'lapse of coordination' between the staff on how the government's plans were to be implemented. 'Acra then proceeded on the misunderstanding that it should unmask NRIC numbers in the new Bizfile portal,' she explained. 'This was a mistake on Acra's part, and I apologize for this. Our oversight has caused anxiety and confusion to the public.' Addressing public concerns about the accessibility of NRIC numbers, Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah emphasized that the change does not mean all masked NRIC numbers will be unmasked. 'That's exactly what Acra thought too, so I'm just trying to illustrate that that’s how the error occurred,' she said. She also added that Acra does not have every citizen's information
GOVERNMENT ERROR NRIC PRIVACY SINGAPORE
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