The Singapore government's recent statement that NRIC numbers shouldn't be considered sensitive information has sparked controversy. Professor Hannah Yee-Fen Lim explains the difference between identification and authentication, highlighting that while NRICs are crucial for identifying individuals, they shouldn't be treated as highly sensitive data. The article explores the public's anxiety surrounding this announcement, the lack of policy changes regarding the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), and the need for stricter NRIC protection.
The government’s announcement that NRIC numbers shouldn't be viewed as sensitive information has caused a stir – but what’s behind it? The key is to differentiate between identification and authentication, says Professor Hannah Yee-Fen Lim, an expert in technology and law.
In my book on Singapore’s PDPA and Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation published in May 2017, I criticised the PDPA legislation for not protecting NRIC numbers and argued why they need to be protected. Authentication is quite different. Authentication is about proving to others that you are who you are and you are entitled to perform an action or access a service – for example, a banking transaction.
In 2003, I was invited to Singapore from Australia to give a keynote on the legal issues associated with this technology, as well as the technology itself, in relation to e-commerce practices. Although the technology was available then, it was expensive and slow to function, and most lawyers and regulators throughout the world were not familiar with it.
If the Singapore government adopts the PKI system for authentication, there will no longer be a need to continue masking NRIC numbers.Commentary: Mobile Guardian hack is a reminder digital natives can still lack digital literacy This should never have happened in the first place. It is really organisations' sloppy attitudes to authenticating their clients and/or customers that is the root cause of the current problem.
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