There are a number of laws in Singapore with an element of consumer protection, such as the Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Selling (Prohibition) Act, Sale of Goods Act, Unfair Contract Terms Act etc. These laws are generally applicable to transactions over the Internet. However, the Government recognises that some laws may not adequately address electronic transactions, and is thus actively looking into how existing consumer protection laws can be clarified and applied specifically in cyberspace.
Singapore has both a strong common law tradition as well as appropriately structured statutory provisions to regulate use of personal data. Under the general law, confidential information may be protected under a duty of confidence. Personal information is also protected under sector-specific laws such as the Banking Act, Statistics Act, the Official Secrets Act and the Statutory Bodies and Government Companies (Protection of Secrecy) Act. There is however no overarching legislation for the protection of personal data in Singapore.
In February 2002, the National Internet Advisory Committee (NIAC) released a draft "Model Data Protection Code for the Private Sector" which is modelled on internationally recognised standards.
The IDA and the
National Trust Council (NTC) conducted a public consultation on the code. Based on comments from the industry and members of the public, the Model Code was fine tuned and released in December 2002 for private sector adoption.
The Model Code is a generic code that is available for adoption by the entire private sector. It applies to any private sector organisation that collects and installs personal data in electronic form, online or offline, using the Internet or any other electronic media. In the e-commerce area, the NTC has aligned its trust mark programme with the principles of the Model Code.
On 1 August 2000, the IDA announced the plan to e-Power the Private Sector to position Singapore as an e-commerce hub. Together with relevant government agencies, IDA identified a four-pronged approach to build trust and confidence in e-commerce:
- Establishing a secure environment
- Establishing confidence in e-business
- Building user confidence
- Raising user awareness
To ensure that the proposed approach addresses the concerns of the industry, IDA issued a consultation document on 26 September 2000 to obtain feedback from the industry and the public. Much of the feedback indicated that trust marks would instil greater user confidence in e-commerce transactions. It was also recognised that a coordinated and multi-faceted approach must be taken to achieve widespread usage of trust marks.
The National Trust Council (NTC) was hence formed with the vision to build public confidence in e-transactions. The NTC, formed on 28 February 2001, is an industry-led committee with government support to ensure that relevant concerns from industry are addressed.
The Council implemented the 1
st nationwide TrustMark Programme, TrustSG, whereby appropriate organisations, such as trade associations, chambers of commerce and businesses will be accredited as Authorised Code Owners (ACO). Upon accreditation, the ACO will be granted a license to use the TrustSg seal, and they can thereafter award the TrustSg seal to merchants who adhere to their stringent codes of practice. The TrustSg seal awarded by the ACOs identifies online merchants as e-commerce enterprises which adhere to good e-business practices. Together with the TrustSg seal, the accredited merchants will also receive the consumer or industry-specific trust mark from the ACOs.
For more information, please refer to the
NTC Web site.
Singapore has a 3-prong approach to Internet content regulation. Firstly, a light-touch class license scheme which provides minimum standards to safeguard values and promote healthy growth; secondly, encouraging industry self-regulation; thirdly, an active public education programme to promote parental supervision over children's access to the Internet. The class license scheme, administered by the
Media Development Authority of Singapore, is an automatic licensing scheme that requires Internet Service Providers and content providers to comply with an Internet Code of Practice.
