By Clara Leow
A casual search about “laws on the unauthorized use of personal data” on Google churns out a staggering figure of 35,500 results. Click after click, link after link, it soon became all too obvious that my search was futile. I discovered just about every privacy policy of companies possible and what surprised me most was the lack of information about how the law can protect an individual from the unwanted use of his personal information. Perhaps, this is in itself reflective of status quo – that there is …

Dear Law School and friends,
The start of a new academic year always brings new beginnings. A new academic year also means that we welcome a new batch of freshmen into our school. This necessarily means – at least for  me – an inane amount of Facebook stalking as I prowl the website for frivolous information about every new student coming in. It’s great fun, really. Okay, I’m kidding. (Or am I?)
On a more serious note though, the consequences resulting from the wide availability of private information online have begun to …

By Alessa Pang
I love Facebook. I really do. I could easily waste a few hours away on Facebook, doing absolutely nothing but flipping through profiles of friends and strangers alike. Nothing intrigues me more than newly uploaded (and possibly mundane) photos of people who have made their lives accessible to all on Facebook. A few days back, I even found myself looking at the profile page of an American soldier, who proudly posted almost 3 entire albums with photos taken during his stint in Iraq. It was pretty cool.
Unfortunately, for …

By Too Xingji

How much privacy can we have at the workplace?
Apparently, not very much.
There is no explicit constitutional guarantee to the right of privacy in Singapore. Neither is there an overarching legislation that protects it. Privacy law, more specifically, the protection of data, resides in various pieces of legislation designed specifically to deal with issues relating to their respective sectors e.g. Banking Act, Telecommunications Act, Computer Misuse Act etc. While there is a recognized tort of harassment in Singapore (Malcomson Nicholas Hugh Bertram v. Mehta Naresh Kumar, [2001] 3 Sing. …

By Tom Chou
Breakdown of Data Protection: A Nightmare for Consumers?
When Citigroup announced that it lost 3.9 million of its client’s personal data in 2005,  some questioned the bank’s date protection capabilities. Unfortunately, Citigroup’s incident was simply the tip of the ice-berg.
In 2008, HSBC lost a computer disc containing the details of 370,000 customers. Consequently, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the United Kingdom imposed a fine of more than £3m on HSBC for failing to have appropriate systems to shield customers’ confidential details from being lost or stolen.
Public outcry …