Singapore’s government announced on Monday it had deleted almost all the personal data collected from its COVID tracking systems – TraceTogether (TT) and SafeEntry (SE) – as of February 1.
SafeEntry served as a check-in system to log details of people visiting public venues like malls and offices, to record movements so authorities could monitor for outbreaks.
The murder case became a hot button issue as residents were initially promised data would be “used solely for contact tracing of persons possibly exposed to COVID-19.”
Concerns emerged that use of the data off label for criminal investigations would erode trust among the public and lower usage – and thus efficacy – of the COVID prevention programs.
Still, the tech did outperform many other apps – so much that Singapore open-sourced TraceTogether and an advisor to the World Health Organization recommended the idea for wider adoption.
“The digital contact tracing systems, TraceTogether (TT) and SafeEntry (SE), will no longer be required as Singapore transitions towards managing COVID-19 like other endemic diseases,” explained the Smart Nation Group.
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