Govt apologises for causing anxiety, confusion over unmasking of NRIC numbers
The government has apologised for causing anxiety and confusion among the public over the unmasking of NRIC numbers on the Bizfile platform.
«We are very sorry to have caused them much anxiety,” said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, who emphasised that the public's concerns are taken seriously.
Speaking at a joint press conference on Thursday (Dec 19), she clarified that the move to eventually unmask NRIC numbers was to give the public »better protection«, as the current situation leaves people vulnerable.
The government’s plans to discontinue the use of masked NRIC numbers was meant to be implemented first on new services, and subsequently older services as they get updated.
Implementing it in the private sector would only happen after a public consultation was done, said Teo.
The authorities had wanted to make the change after explaining its rationale, but a »miscommunication" regarding its implementation led to the launch of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority's (Acra) new Bizfile platform on Dec 9, which had a search function that produced people's full NRIC numbers with their names.