Above image: Screenshot from MyInfo website
The Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) has revealed in a press release that by December 2017, all registered SingPass users will have a MyInfo Profile, which is designed to reduce the hassle of filling up online forms for government digital services. This development has been described as a step towards an enhanced National Digital Identity (NDI), a Strategic National Project in the Smart Nation drive, The NDI will provide users with a single digital identity to transact with both the Government and private sectors.
The MyInfo Profile will be automatically available to all government agencies, ensuring a seamless and convenient experience for users. Users can also authorise certain private sector entities to use their MyInfo Profile to pre-fill forms. An extra layer of consent will be required to release financial information, such as CPF or income tax statements.
SingPass, available to all citizens and long-term residents in Singapore, acts as an authentication gateway to hundreds of e-services provided by more than 60 Singapore Government agencies, while MyInfo helps reduce the hassle of filling up online forms for government digital services. Two-factor authentication (2FA) was made mandatory for SingPass in 2016.
MyInfo is a digital personal data platform which takes on a “Tell Us Once” approach, so that citizens need to provide and verify their personal data only once to the government, instead of doing so repeatedly for every single government electronic transaction with different government agencies. After the user has successfully authenticated his identity via SingPass, his basic personal details will be used to fill up online forms from participating agencies, each time he performs a transaction.
Since launching in early 2016, MyInfo has seen close to 200,000 sign ups. Currently, MyInfo is available on 24 digital services, such as applications for new flats and the Baby Bonus scheme. The MyInfo profile will be further rolled out for 140 government digital services such as applying for ActiveSG and SkillsFuture Credits by 2018.
Announcing the step, Dr. Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State (Communications and Information, Education), and Minister-in-Charge of GovTech, highlighted the Government’s continued commitment to make government digital services more secure, user-friendly and intuitive for citizens, as part of the commitment towards a Smart Nation that offers benefits and opportunities for all.
In May 2017, MyInfo was extended to the banking sector with four participating banks, United Overseas Bank (UOB), Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart). When transacting, consent is sought before personal details of bank customers are retrieved from MyInfo. To date, 19 digital services have successfully been onboarded, including applications for credit cards and the opening of new bank accounts.
The Government will be extending MyInfo to more locally-registered businesses to continue to improve digital user experiences.
