S'pore data protection bill to be tabled by Q3
Singapore's personal data protection bill is set to be tabled in parliament by the third quarter this year, and the country's Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) has put up its proposal a final round of consultation.
According to a report by news daily Today on Monday, if the bill is passed there will be a "sunrise period" of 18 months before the law takes effect, so that organizations can adjust and put procedures in place to comply with the new regime.
Following the first two consultations on the proposed act, the ministry had drawn up a proposed Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) for a final round of consultation.
MICA will continue seek further feedback in a public consultation exercise held from today till Apr. 30.
Under the proposed law, organizations can only collect, use or disclose personal data with the individual's consent. Individuals can also withdraw their consent and ask organizations to stop collecting, using or disclosing data.
There new changes include a Do-Not-Call (DNC) registry to allow people to sign up and prevent marketing companies from calling them.
A Data Protection Commission, will be set up to investigate and issue penalities which can go as high as S$10,000 (US$