Personal Data Protection Act 2012: Understanding the consent obligation

• Main Author: YIP, Man
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2017
• Subjects: data protection; consent; Personal Data Protection Act; Singapore; Asian Studies; Communications Law; Information Security
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2365; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4322/viewcontent/PDP_Digest_2017__e_version_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The Personal Data Protection Act 20121 (“PDPA”) provides the baseline standards of protection of personal data and works in tandem with existing law to provide comprehensive protection. The birth of the legislation clearly signals Singapore’s commitment to protect the collection, use and disclosure of personal data in the age of big data and its awareness of the importance of such protection in strengthening Singapore’s position as a leading commercial hub. Significantly, the PDPA protection model balances “both the rights of individuals to protect their personal data” against “the needs of organisations to collect, use or disclose personal data for legitimate and reasonable purposes”.2 The approach is thus a pragmatic one. The legislation does not promise uncurtailed protection of informational privacy of the individual, a model that would be practically difficult to enforce, as well as lead to the creation of a trade barrier. Nor doesstringency guarantee better protection in every case.