Has anyone ever refused to surrender ICs to security?

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Just wondering what if all of us start to enforce our rights to personal data protection: refuse to surrender ICs and ask the security guards to escort us to our destinations. Pretty soon the security guards will go peng san going up and down the building whole day long. Good idea?


Surrendering ICs at buildings: Set guidelines to protect data

Aug 7, 2014

VISITORS to buildings face the dilemma of being denied entry if they refuse to hand over their identity cards, or risking abuse of their personal data if they do ("Some security staff unsure of data act"; July 28).

The risk is greater when a visitor is required to fill in his IC number, mobile phone number and address in a log book in exchange for a pass.

There are no clear guidelines and visitors are presumed to have voluntarily provided the data.

I used to receive calls from telemarketers. When I asked how they got my mobile number, they told me it was collected from organisations that asked for visitors' ICs.

What security arrangements are in place to protect personal data and prevent unauthorised access to it?

As the Personal Data Protection Act does not prescribe a period for retaining personal data, organisations are at liberty to keep it for as long as they wish.

The Act should be amended so that the retention period is reasonable.

Organisations should not be given unlimited access to personal data, as IC numbers can be used to perform transactions.

Security staff should take appropriate measures to respect visitors' data and ensure that entries in a log book are concealed from other visitors.

If possible, organisations could ask staff to escort the visitors in, without the need to retain ICs.

Francis Cheng



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