Under a proposed law, the police and other law enforcement agencies can exercise powers under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), or other written laws, to use personal contact tracing data for only investigations or criminal proceedings into seven categories of serious offences.

The law will expressly cover the following:

1. Offences involving the use or possession of corrosive substances, as well as offensive or dangerous weapons. This includes possessing firearms and armed robberies involving firearms.

2. Terrorism-related offences under the Terrorism (Suppression of Bombings) Act, Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act, and Terrorism (Suppression of Misuse of Radioactive Material)

3. Crimes against people where the victim is seriously hurt or killed. This includes murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and voluntarily causing grievous hurt in which the victim’s injury is life-threatening

4. Drug trafficking offences in which the penalty is death

5. Escape from legal custody when there is reason to believe that the person will cause imminent harm to others

6. Kidnapping

7. Serious sexual offences such as rape and sexual assault by penetration

Tracetogether data cannot be used in the investigations, inquiries or court proceedings of any other offence besides these seven categories, according to the Government.

The legislation will be introduced in the next sitting of Parliament next month on a Certificate of Urgency, said the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) yesterday. This means that the proposed law is urgent enough to be put through all three readings in one parliamentary sitting, instead of separate sessions.

Also read: NMP Leong Mun Wai: TraceTogether data should not be used by Police even in a child-kidnapping case.