Article clarification on The Straits Times, 12 Feb 2015

LAST Thursday's article did not present a complete picture of the cost of checking the Do Not Call (DNC) Registry in Singapore ("Do Not Call Registry fees 'too high'").

DNC Registry fees in Singapore cannot be compared with those in other countries, such as Britain, the United States and Hong Kong.

The models are different. Telemarketers in Britain, US and Hong Kong must pay a periodic subscription fee to download registered phone numbers from the DNC registries.

Singapore's DNC Registry also has three registers - voice call, SMS and fax - and 500 free credits are provided annually to organisations for checks.

Other jurisdictions cited in the article do not have all these features (that is, some registers are only for voice calls, and some do not have free checks).

Jurisdictions mentioned in the article use a model in which numbers listed on the DNC registries are downloaded by organisations for checking.

Singapore has adopted the "filtering" method, where an organisation submits its telemarketing list to the DNC Registry and the list is filtered by the DNC Registry before it is returned to the organisation.

This model avoids the transfer of phone numbers of individuals who are not customers of organisations to the organisations, which will increase the risk of misuse (that is, organisations using the list of registered numbers for other purposes).

If the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) were to charge a subscription model similar to the jurisdictions mentioned, organisations that do heavy telemarketing may pay less, but every other organisation would end up paying more.

With the current fee structure, 80 per cent of organisation accounts on the DNC Registry have been utilising the free 500 annual credits issued, and do not spend any money performing checks with the registry. Another 17 per cent pay, on average, $25 each month.

The PDPC holds regular engagements with the industry and will continue to work with it to address any concerns that the industry would have.

Evelyn Goh (Ms) 
Director, Communications, Planning & Policy 
Personal Data Protection Commission