Tag Archives: PDPA

Huttons Property agent charged under ‘Do Not Call’ rules

Posted on 24 Sep 2014 | Comments Off on Huttons Property agent charged under ‘Do Not Call’ rules

A Huttons property agent is the second person to be charged for offences relating to the Do Not Call (DNC) requirements under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) which took effect on 2 January 2014.

In a statement, the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) said it had received complaints about unsolicited telemarketing messages advertising residential developments allegedly sent by the agent to Singapore telephone numbers that were registered with the DNC Registry.

The agent will be charged in the State Courts on Wednesday and faces up to 27 counts of contravening section 43(1) of the PDPA, relating to the obligation to check the DNC Registry before sending any telemarketing messages to Singapore telephone numbers.

According to the Commission, the real estate sector makes up about 47 percent of complaints pertaining to DNC related offences.

Leong Keng Thai, Chairman of the Commission said: “Telemarketers looking to promote their products or services to individuals with Singapore telephone numbers must abide by the DNC provisions.

“It is a frustrating experience for individuals who have registered their numbers with the DNC Registry to continue receiving unsolicited telemarketing messages, and the PDPC will take enforcement action against those who continue to ignore the rules.”

So far, the Commission has investigated more than 3,500 valid complaints against various organisations, while investigations into some 1,700 other complaints are still ongoing. These organisations are from sectors such as property, private education and retail.

Back in August, Star Zest Home Tuition and its director, Law Han Wei, were the first offenders to be fined $39,000 each. Both the agency and Law faced a total of 26 counts of contravening section 43(1) of the PDPA with 48 other similar offences taken into consideration.

Meanwhile, around 4,500 organisations have registered to check Singapore telephone numbers against the DNC Registry in order to comply with the DNC provisions.

Any person or organisation found guilty of the offence of sending unsolicited telemarketing messages to Singapore telephone numbers without checking the DNC Registry can be fined up to $10,000 per message sent.

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Data Protection regulations start 2 Jul 2014

Posted on 5 Jul 2014 | Comments Off on Data Protection regulations start 2 Jul 2014

The Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) is in full effect as of today, after an 18 month transition period for companies to prepare for compliance.

Organisations will now have to comply with rules in the Data Protection provisions of the PDPA, along with the Do Not Call provisions implemented on 2 January 2014.

Those who do not comply may be fined.

From 2 July 2014, organisations will have to notify individuals why their personal data is being collected, used or disclosed, and obtain their consent to do so.

However, they can continue to use personal data collected before today without obtaining fresh consent, unless the individual has asked the organisation to stop doing so.

Reasonable security arrangements must also be made to prevent any unauthorised activity to the personal data. In addition, individuals will now have the right to access and correct their personal data.

Leong Keng Thai, Chairman of the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) said, “With increasingly more data being generated and shared, the PDPA is necessary in order to strengthen Singapore’s position as a trusted global data hub.”

In January 2014, PDPC released proposed advisory guidelines on the PDPA to scenarios faced in the real estate agency sector, and sought feedback on them.

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