Singapore used contact tracing data in case involving murder

Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said the data would only be used for serious crimes. — AFP

Singapore’s government defended the use of contact tracing data in police investigations, as a senior lawmaker said information from the widely-adopted program has already been used once to assist in a murder case.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday about the city-state’s TraceTogether program, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said the data would only be used for serious crimes. If of no particular use it would be deleted, otherwise, he said, it would be produced in court and used for trial purposes.