Government apologises for causing anxiety over NRIC unmasking saga
The government on Thursday (19 Dec) apologised to the public over the error which led to the unmasking of National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) numbers.
At a press conference, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said, "We are very sorry to have caused them much anxiety."
Teo explained that NRIC numbers are "unique identifiers" so "it cannot be a secret, just as our names are not secret". She also said that the current policy surrounding the use of NRIC numbers "leaves us vulnerable" and there was a change to provide "better protection".
She added, "Not using masked NRIC numbers does not mean that we will unmask all currently masked NRIC numbers. We should have made this clear."
According to The Straits Times, partial NRIC numbers are not that secure as a good guess of one’s full NRIC number can be generated with partial numbers, especially if the year of birth is known.
The government had intended to implement the change after explaining the situation and preparing the citizens, but the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) went ahead and launched its Bizfile portal with a search function that revealed people's full names and NRIC numbers.
Teo shared that they had planned a public education campaign covering three broad areas and knew that changing mindsets would have to be done over a period of time. However, the timeline had been "compressed" because of this incident.
There will be a public consultation scheduled for 2025 to get feedback from the private sector and members of the public.
Teo said that the public's concerns over this issue are taken seriously.
ACRA’s chief executive Chia-Tern Huey Min also apologised for on behalf of ACRA for "causing anxiety" among the public "over the disclosure of NRIC numbers on our Bizfile portal".
She revealed that in July, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) "issued a circular for government agencies to cease any planned use of masked NRIC numbers in new business processes and services".
According to her, this was part of the government's wider efforts to uphold NRIC numbers as a unique identifier, and move away from masking them, as it provides a false sense of security.
Chia-Tern added, "Unfortunately, there was a lapse of coordination between the staff on how this was to be implemented. ACRA then proceeded on the misunderstanding that it should unmask NRIC numbers in the new Bizfile portal."
She said, "As the owner of the Bizfile portal, ACRA should have been more mindful that many Singaporeans have long treated their NRIC numbers as private and confidential information, and would not want to have their full NRIC numbers searchable on the new portal."
Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah clarified that while the government is ceasing the use of partially masked NRIC numbers, it doesn't necessarily mean that masked NRIC numbers should become unmasked.
That was the misunderstanding on ACRA's part that led to the error, she pointed out.
Indranee said that the MOF (Ministry of Finance) and ACRA will learn from this episode and setback.
"We are thoroughly reviewing the incident to identify areas where we should have done and can do better, including improving the communication and coordination between agencies, and the features of our digital services."
As for whether any action will be taken towards the ACRA staff or any other agency responsible for this error, Indranee told CNA that it would be "premature at this stage" to say so.
She added, "You must remember, this is an instance of a misunderstanding. And I think one has to ascertain exactly how that came about and have a look at the full facts, before deciding on what, if anything, needs to be done."