[Contributed by Zen] This year, the government announced that they are exploring petitionsSG, a new platform for Singaporeans to petition. They promised that petitions with 10,000 supporters on this site will guarantee a response from the relevant ministries within 90 days.
Sounds good right? Here is the catch – you will need to use your SingPass to start or sign a petition. They say that this is to prevent trolling.
Is it really anonymous then?
The website says that users’ NRIC or address will not be stored. Apparently, you can choose to sign anonymously so that your name will not be recorded by the platform. Users who choose to sign anonymously will not have their names recorded by the platform.
“PetitionsSG offers the option to sign a petition anonymously, because we understand public civic participation in Singapore on certain topics could come with some social stigma attached.”
However do you trust that it will really be anonymous? Especially since you have to use your SingPass (which contains all your personal info) to sign?
Will the government go back on their word again like they did for TraceTogether, and suddenly say that they will only reveal personal information for “criminal” reasons?
The prototype was up in January this year, but they have yet to officially launch it. Apparently they are still testing the website. Will you dare to use it once it is launched?
