One of the many ways Singapore’s planning to counter terrorism and serious crime is a typically Big Brother-esque one — widening the usage of video camera footage on public transports and Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) systems.
According to Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, the sources contain important data that could be vital to security amid heightened threat environment — increased frequency of terrorist attacks worldwide.
This would be a total turnaround from initial sentiments from the Government that some of the data acquired through the mentioned systems would not be used.
“…in this changed security environment, the Home Team must be able to collect and analyse suspicious travel patterns and respond swiftly and decisively, for our collective security”, noted Shanmugam during the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The alternative? Spend taxpayer’s money to revamp infrastructure to analyse how people move.
Nominated Member of Parliament Kok Heng Leun (and passionate arts advocate) enquired what safeguards would be in place to prevent abuse of data. Shanmugam assured that guidelines and a framework in place will ensure that the data only be used for security purposes — those who misappropriate data will be dealt with in court.
Other hi-tech methods used to prevent such heinous acts include face recognition systems, intelligent video systems and data analytics will be used to anticipate whatever may come.
