ERP 2 data to be used by Home Team to prevent & solve crimes from January 2027
The Home Team will use data from Singapore’s new Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) 2 system to prevent, detect and solve crimes from January 2027.
Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming said this in Parliament on Tuesday (3 Nov).
He added that Home Team agencies are authorised by law to obtain information from various sources, including sensors.
Source: MDDI Singapore on YouTube
The data will be subject to the same legal and data governance safeguards that apply to other information obtained by the Home Team.
The announcement comes as questions were raised in Parliament about how authorities can access vehicle location data collected through ERP 2 and how long such information will be retained.
LTA can retrieve vehicle location data for enforcement purposes
Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling said ERP 2 is designed primarily for road pricing.
However, it also supports other motoring-related functions, including law enforcement.
Individual vehicle data is aggregated and anonymised when transferred to the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) backend system for traffic management and planning.
Source: Land Transport Authority – We Keep Your World Moving on Facebook
When specific vehicles need to be identified for enforcement purposes, LTA can retrieve location data from its sensors and systems.
Ms Sun said LTA has used this capability for enforcement against serious offences, including illegal cross-border taxi services and detecting deregistered vehicles.
She added that ERP 2 data would be subject to existing statutory obligations, like other Government data.
For example, under the Criminal Procedure Code, the police can require data to be produced for criminal investigations.
ERP 2 data can help detect deregistered vehicles & off-peak car offences
In response to a supplementary question from Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Pei Ling, Ms Sun explained that some offences already enforced under the current ERP system would continue to be detected under ERP 2.
These include:
- Deregistered vehicles
- Off-peak cars driven outside their permitted hours
- Vehicles that should not be driven on roads, such as those under laid-up and keeping schemes
“When specific vehicles need to be identified for enforcement purposes, LTA is able to retrieve location data from sensors and systems.
LTA has done this for enforcement against serious offences,” she said.
Ms Tin had also asked what safeguards would protect the data and whether residents could request video or photographic evidence to contest offences they were accused of committing.
Ms Sun said the on-board unit (OBU) was designed with a high level of security and encryption, and adhered to international technical standards and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) regulations.
Source: MDDI Singapore on YouTube
Data stored in the OBU cannot be directly accessed by motorists.
Any data transmitted by the device can only be accessed by the Government and is stored in a secure environment.
Police to retain data only as long as necessary
MP Jackson Lam asked whether there would be independent oversight, audit trails and restrictions on how long vehicle-specific data could be retained.
In response, Mr Goh said the police would retain data only for the duration needed to fulfil the purposes for which it was obtained.
For data used in criminal investigations or court proceedings, the police would retain it for as long as necessary to complete the investigation or proceedings.
He added that Home Team agencies had long been authorised to obtain information from available sources under the law.
Source: MDDI Singapore on YouTube
He cited a 2016 statement by the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr K Shanmugam, who said the Home Team would use available investigation and intelligence tools and make better use of data, including information from the ERP system.
“The Home Team expects to use ERP 2 data from January 2027 to prevent, detect and deter crimes, and to solve crimes,” he said.
“ERP 2 data will be subjected to safeguards on its access and use, as with other uses of other data obtained by the Home Team.”
Distance-based ERP charging may be considered in future
Separately, Ms Tin asked whether distance-based ERP charging could be introduced in a future phase of ERP 2.
Ms Sun said the idea would indeed be considered in a subsequent phase.
Distance-based charging is not part of the current plan for the satellite-based ERP 2 system.
Also read: LTA rolls out OBU alerts at 8 Parking Enforcement Camera Zones, may expand to more locations
LTA rolls out OBU alerts at 8 Parking Enforcement Camera Zones, may expand to more locations
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Featured image adapted from MDDI Singapore on YouTube and Land Transport Authority – We Keep Your World Moving on Facebook.
