Proposed law against spammers to cover instant messaging
By Irene Tham, The Straits Times, 20 Mar 2012
By Irene Tham, The Straits Times, 20 Mar 2012
TEXT messages are likely to be included in the national Do-Not-Call registry, despite resistance from some companies calling for their exclusion.
The registry, which will allow people to opt out of receiving intrusive marketing messages, is a key part of the new Data Protection Bill.
The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica) has proposed that the registry cover all kinds of text messages in the draft Bill, which is now open for a third round of public comment.
The Bill could become law as early as the end of this year. The registry could be launched by the end of next year.
The proposed law aims to protect personal information from being stolen or indiscriminately collected and used for marketing purposes. Consumers will be able to opt out of telemarketing calls, as well as short message service (SMS) and multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages, or both.
Mica stuck to its initial proposal to include text messages in the registry, even as many companies called for them to be excluded during its second round of consultation, which ended last December.
These companies, including telco M1 and insurance firm Prudential, argued that there was 'very little harm' in receiving an SMS or MMS message as such messages were unlikely to be billed, as opposed to phone calls.
But the ministry is of the view that consumers should be the ones to decide whether a message is intrusive or not. It has also extended the Do-Not-Call framework to include all text messages, so that those sent via instant messaging applications (apps) - with the most widely used being WhatsApp - using a Singapore telephone number will also be covered. Previously, Mica proposed that only calls, SMS, MMS and faxes be covered. Smartphone apps like WhatsApp have become more popular in the past year because they offer a practically free alternative to sending SMS messages.
Consumers applauded the move to extend regulation to data applications and instant messaging.
Engineer Ngiam Shih Tung, 45, said: 'The nuisance of having junk SMS displacing legitimate messages in your inbox is reason enough to opt out.'
But some remain sceptical about enforcement, saying that errant companies will always try to exploit loopholes. This is why undergraduate Y. H. Chua, 21, said he much prefers an 'opt-out' rather than an opt-in system, the basis of the proposed Do-Not-Call registry.
Under the new rules, service providers such as banks or spas will not be allowed to call customers for telemarketing purposes if they have listed their numbers in the registry - unless consumers give explicit consent before the law kicks in.
Mica said the data protection law will apply to all companies if they collect and use data on consumers in Singapore. It admitted that enforcing the law on overseas companies will be difficult, but it will bank on bilateral agreements and relationships with regulators overseas.
Key exceptions to the rules include personal data cited in court documents, and photographs of people taken for personal use and published on, say, a blog or Facebook page. Other exclusions include personal information collected for news reporting, medical emergencies, national security, research, artistic and literary purposes.
The maximum fine for offending companies will be $1 million. Details of the draft Bill are on the ministry's website at http://www.mica.gov.sg/dpbillconsultation
The consultation ends on April 30.
The first reading of the draft Bill in Parliament is slated for the third quarter of this year.
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