[ 22 Aug 2001 ] CNSG Breakfast Talk : “Assessing Your Security Profile” and “Data Protection & Privacy Law: The Implications for Trade”

What is data protection? What are the laws governing data protection? What is the difference between this and privacy law? What are the consequences of not having business practices which comply with data protection law or privacy law? How does non-compliance affect international trade? Assoc Prof Toh See Kiat, Chairman of CommerceNet Singapore Limited, answered these questions most eloquently. These are important legal issues as Singapore moves into fair trade agreements with OECD , the US and Japan which all have a longer and more established history in data protection. The increasing use of the Internet to collect data also pose the relevancy of such laws to ensure lawful and proper use of personal data collected over the Internet.

After an interesting session concerning the legal aspect of data protection, Mr Calvin Yap went on to discuss the need to build a secure infrastructure to protect data collection and transmission. He stressed the importance for organizations to embrace a model where internal, trusted individuals are highly mobile, work in distributed locations and interact in a fluid and dynamic fashion with both the organization and outside individuals and communities. The discussion also examined the risks involve in planning and deploying a security infrastructure and policy, as well as examining key design criteria and issues to be considered.

Speaker’s Profile :

Calvin Yap is a senior consultant and project manager with Syntegra, focusing on information security and specializing in Internet-based secure infrastructures. He has nearly 10 years of experience in the consulting and systems integration business. Major clients include ID.Safe, VCHEQ.Com, Neptune Orient Lines, Singapore Telecom and Unilever.

Dr Toh is currently an Associate Professor at the Nanyang Technological University, author of “Paperless International Trade: Law of Telematic Data Interchange”, and a member of the international advisory panel of e-Business World (International Chamber of Commerce). Dr Toh advises various companies and the Dubai Internet City on the legal issues of information technology and Electronic Commerce/Electronic Business .