All incoming travellers to Singapore will have to don an electronic monitoring device for the duration of their 14-day Stay Home Notice (SHN) with effect from 10 August 2020, at 11.59pm.
This includes Singapore Citizens, Singapore Permanent Residents, Long-Term Pass holders, Work Pass holders and their dependants, and will apply to those serving their SHN outside of SHN dedicated facilities (SDFs).
Those under 12 will be excluded from this requirement.
In a joint release, the Immigrationtion and Checkpoints Authority, Education Ministry and Manpower Ministry said this was in view of the progressive lifting of travel restrictions, and will allow authorities to monitor those serving SHN at their place of residence more effectively. Currently, those on SHN have been monitored by text messages, video/phone calls and house visits.
Upon arrival in Singapore, travellers serving their SHN at their place of residence will be issued with an electronic monitoring device at the checkpoints, after immigration clearance.
They will then need to activate the electronic monitoring device upon reaching their place of residence. If the device is not activated as required, the authorities will follow up to determine their location, and assist to resolve any technical difficulties, or take enforcement action, as the case may be.
During the 14-day period, persons wearing these devices may receive notifications on these devices and need to acknowledge them in a timely manner.
Any attempt to leave the place of residence or tamper with the electronic device will trigger an alert to the authorities, who will conduct follow-up investigations, except when the person is leaving his/her place of residence for his/her appointment for the COVID-19 test. After serving their SHN, they need to deactivate the device and dispose of or return it in accordance with the instructions.
ICA, MOM and MOE said the devices use GPS and 4G/Bluetooth signals to determine if persons on SHN are within the range of their place of residence. The devices do not store any personal data and do not have any voice/video recording function. Data transmitted from the devices to the authorities’ backend system, such as the GPS and 4G/Bluetooth signal data, is protected by end-to-end certificate-based encryption.
They also reassured that authorities will abide strictly by public sector data protection rules, and only Government officials authorised by the respective authorities will have access to the data for the purposes of monitoring and investigation.
Those who fail to comply with SHN requirements, including persons who tamper and/or remove the electronic monitoring device during the SHN period, could face a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to six months.
For foreigners, ICA/MOM may take further administrative actions, such as revoking, or shortening the validity of permits and passes to remain/work in Singapore.
