MDDI Speech · 2026-05-05

MDDI's Response to PQ on Review of Personal Data Protection Act 2012 to Address Use of Inferred or Derived Data Generated by AI

· Speaker · MDDI's Response to PQ on Review of Personal Data Protection Act 2012 to Address Use of Inferred or Derived Data Generated by AI

Key takeaways

  • • The Personal Data Protection Act requires organizations to safeguard personal data about identifiable individuals, including data derived from such personal data.
  • • The Personal Data Protection Commission has published Advisory Guidelines on the Use of Personal Data in AI Recommendation and Decision Systems.
  • • The guidelines establish that organizations should use personal data only for legitimate business purposes.
  • • The guidelines require limiting personal data collection to what is necessary.

Full speech

Archived from mddi.gov.sg · Fetched 2026-05-22

Newsroom MDDI's Response to PQ on Review of Personal Data Protection Act 2012 to Address Use of Inferred or Derived Data Generated by AI Parliament MDDI's Response to PQ on Review of Personal Data Protection Act 2012 to Address Use of Inferred or Derived Data Generated by AI 5 May 2026

39. Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) whether the Ministry intends to review the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 to address the use of inferred or derived data, including behavioural profiles generated by artificial intelligence systems; and (b) if so, what principles will guide such a review.

Answer

Under the Personal Data Protection Act, data about an identifiable individual is considered personal data, and an organisation has obligations to safeguard such data in its possession or control. This also covers data about the individual that an organisation derives in the course of business from such personal data.

The Personal Data Protection Commission has published Advisory Guidelines on the Use of Personal Data in AI Recommendation and Decision Systems. It sets out principles to guide organisations and consumers on the responsible collection and use of personal data in AI systems, such as using data only for legitimate business purposes, and limiting data collection to what is needed.

Source on mddi.gov.sg