Singapore legislation
Clause 5
Clause 5
Disclosure of information
(1)
No particulars or information or any part thereof relating to any individual person obtained under the provisions of this Act shall, without the previous consent in writing of that person, be disclosed except —
compiled statistics on the operation of an industry may be published irrespective of the number of persons engaged in that industry unless the industry is exempted by the Minister responsible for the Government department or ministry in possession of such particulars from having its data published;
where the disclosure can be made without identifying the individual person and an appropriate time, in the opinion of the Minister responsible for the Government department or ministry in possession of such particulars, has elapsed;
for the purposes of any proceedings for an offence under this Act or any report of those proceedings; or
information of a general nature including products manufactured or handled, size of establishment, number of employees and addresses, which could be obtained from other sources.
(2)
It is the duty of the Minister responsible for the Government department or ministry issuing any requisition under this Act to have due regard to the circumstances of various trades and industries and in particular to the importance of avoiding the disclosure in any return of any trade secret or of trading profits or of any other information the disclosure of which would be likely to tend to the prejudice of the person furnishing the return.
(3)
If any information to be obtained under this Act is also obtainable under any other written law which restricts the disclosure of information obtained thereunder, and the Minister is of the opinion that similar restrictions should be applied to any information to be obtained under this Act, the Minister shall by order provide for the application, without modifications or with such adaptations or modifications as he thinks fit, of those restrictions to the information to be so obtained, or any part thereof, in addition to the restrictions imposed by this section.
(4)
Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (3) if it appears to the Minister that the nature of the information to be obtained under this Act would make it desirable to impose restrictions on the disclosure of the information additional to the restrictions imposed by this section, the Minister may by order prohibit the disclosure of such information, or any part thereof, except to such persons or for such purposes as may be specified in the order.
(5)
The compilation of any report, summary or other communication to the public of information obtained under this Act shall be so arranged as to prevent any particulars published therein from being identified as being particulars relating to any individual person except with the previous consent in writing of that person.
(6)
If any person discloses any returns or any information contrary to the provisions of this section, or of any order made thereunder, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both such fine and imprisonment.