Smart Nation Use of NRIC
There is a thinking that the NRIC should be kept secret. I never share this thinking. I consider the NRIC to be as public as my name.

My NRIC is S0579729B. But I prefer you to address me by name, rather than by a number. 

I do not worry that other people may know my NRIC number. What can they do with it?

Yes, they can use it to log into the SingPass website and pretend to be me. Really? Do they know my password and my 2FA? It is not so easy to impersonate me. 

Even if they are able to login with my SingPass, what can they do? Sure, they can apply for a new passport on my behalf. Or they can submit a false income tax return. Why would they want to do it? To create havoc?

Anyway, they should know that it is a crime to impersonate another person and steal his identity. He can be charged and if convicted, he can be sent to jail. Why take this risk?

I am therefore amazed that so many people in charge in Singapore consider that the NRIC should be kept secret.

Recently, the PDPA administrator asked businesses to avoid the use of the NRIC number to identify a person. This is counter productive. It is regressive. It is stupidity.

It will incur a huge expense for businesses and a lot of inconvenience for the public. It serves no purpose. 

There is concern that a hacker could use the NRIC number to access the medical, educational and financial records of a person. Is it so easy? They also need to be able to hacked into the database of the respective organization.

While it can be done, as was seen in the recent SingHealth breach, they got the personal records of 1.5 million patients anyway, without the need to use the NRIC number. 

In the past, we use the NRIC number as the passport number. It was useful and convenient. Now, we give a different passport number on each renewal. The passport number no longer served as a means of identifying  a person permanently. When the passport changes, that person gets a new identity.

The use of a unique NRIC number to identify a person was a big advantage passed down from our predecessors. The current people in charge wants to throw away this advantage. It is sad.

Tan Kin Lian


 

Add Comment

---