Notes from the iappANZ, 2 March 2018

Greetings from Singapore!

The use of biometric data continues to be a hot topic in Asia, with many banks now offering facial recognition technology as one means by which customers can access their accounts. One Hong Kong bank is reportedly even considering using facial recognition technology in its ATMs. With these new technologies gaining traction in the financial services market, it will be interesting to see how consumers draw the balance between the information they wish to treat as private and that which they are prepared to share with companies in order to enjoy the convenience of these new technologies.

There is certainly increased public awareness of the impact of new technologies on data privacy. The New Zealand press reported two stories this week on the use of aerial drones to watch people in circumstances where they would otherwise have had a reasonable expectation of privacy. One drone was reportedly hovering outside a woman’s bedroom window at night. To their credit, New Zealanders didn’t tolerate this behavior, and in each case, the subject made a report to the police.

As we draw closer to 25 May, there have been continued reports that Asian companies are not sufficiently prepared for GDPR compliance. One report this week reported 70 percent of surveyed Singaporean business indicated that data privacy and security were a significant issue, but only 10 percent of them reported they are currently ready to comply with the new European standards. With new cybersecurity laws being passed a couple of weeks ago, the Singaporean Personal Data Protection Commissioner’s proposal last year to introduce a mandatory breach notification and the GDPR soon coming into effect, we are in for a busy time in Singapore in the world of data privacy over the coming months.

Until next time.