Singapore’s Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts recently announced that the government will take steps to introduce a generic data protection statute in Singapore early next year.  The Singaporean government has been considering the issue for a number of years but now appears to have taken a concrete decision to proceed with targeted legislation in this area.  The Minister announced that the proposed law will “curb excessive and unnecessary collection of individuals’ personal data by businesses, and include requirements such as obtaining consent of individuals to disclose their personal information.”  The government is also planning to establish an enforcement authority to oversee implementation and compliance with the new legislation.

There will be a public consultation process overseen by InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) later this year.  The proposed legislation is expected to be laid before Parliament in early 2012.