National Youth Council mistakenly leaks personal data of 600 SG Youth Forum participants

Published Oct 13, 2026, 03:50 PM

Updated Oct 13, 2026, 03:50 PM

National Youth Council wrongly sent a file with names and NRIC numbers of about 600 SG Youth Forum participants to a private email on 25 August.

Minister David Neo said the mistake was human error, NYC found it the same day, tried to get the file deleted, and later told affected participants on 3 September.

NYC is reviewing its data transfer and handling processes to add safeguards, while the case highlights serious public sector data risks and possible penalties under the Public Sector (Governance) Act.

SINGAPORE – The names and NRIC numbers of about 600 participants of the SG Youth Forum were mistakenly sent to a private e-mail address by the National Youth Council (NYC).

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo said the incident on Aug 25 was caused by a human error, and NYC is now looking to strengthen safeguards for its data handling processes.

He was responding to a parliamentary question from Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik (Sengkang GRC) on Oct 7.

The SG Youth Forum is an annual event organised by NYC, bringing together the Government, youths and stakeholders to discuss issues that matter to young Singaporeans.

It was most recently held in July at the Suntec Convention Centre , where the SG Youth Plan was launched.

Neo said NYC discovered the data leak on the same day the file containing the data was sent , and requested the recipient to delete the information. But repeated attempts to contact the recipient were unsuccessful.

NYC then assessed that no further action could be reasonably taken and e-mailed the affected participants on Sept 3 to notify them of the incident .

In the e-mail, NYC had apologised and offered channels for those affected to connect with them on the incident.

Neo said NYC officers had also personally engaged participants who had further queries and concerns.

As NYC is a public service agency, it is not governed by the Personal Data Protection Act and does not fall under the Personal Data Protection Commission’s (PDPC) purview.

Instead, it has to comply with the Public Sector (Governance) Act.

Under the Act, an individual found guilty of unauthorised disclosure and improper use of information can be jailed for up to two years and fined $5,000.

Neo said the NYC and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth take the protection of personal data seriously.

“In response to this incident, NYC has taken immediate action to review its data transfer processes and address vulnerabilities that could result in similar scenarios.

“It is also reviewing other data handling processes in the organisation to strengthen them and institute additional safeguards,” he added.

There were two major data breaches reported in the media in September.

The first involved telco Simba, which revealed that the personal information of more than 23,500 customers was compromised , including their names, identity card numbers, dates of birth, mobile numbers and e-mail addresses.

The second incident involved more than 95,000 Bee Cheng Hiang customers , in which a bad prompt generated code sent out marketing e-mails with all the recipients’ addresses visible to everyone.

It was the first reported case of AI-related data breach in Singapore.

PDPC was notified in both instances.

It is investigating the Simba case, and has accepted a voluntary undertaking by Bee Cheng Hiang to improve its compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act.

David Sun is The Straits Times’ crime correspondent. He has a background in criminology and is a licensed private investigator.

National Youth Council

Singapore Parliament

发布于2026年10月13日下午3:50

更新于2026年10月13日下午3:50

8月25日，国家青年理事会错误地将一份包含约600名新加坡青年论坛参与者的姓名和身份证号码的文件发送到了一个私人邮箱。

部长大卫·尼奥表示，这是人为失误，纽约市当天就发现了错误，并试图删除该文件，随后于 9 月 3 日通知了受影响的参与者。

纽约市正在审查其数据传输和处理流程，以增加保障措施。此案凸显了公共部门数据面临的严重风险，以及根据《公共部门（治理）法》可能受到的处罚。

新加坡——国家青年理事会（NYC）误将约 600 名新加坡青年论坛参与者的姓名和身份证号码发送到了一个私人电子邮件地址。

文化、社区及青年部长大卫·尼奥表示，8月25日发生的事件是由人为错误造成的，纽约市目前正在寻求加强其数据处理流程的保障措施。

他于10月7日回应阿都穆海明阿都马利克（盛港集选区）提出的国会质询。

新加坡青年论坛是由新加坡青年理事会 (NYC) 主办的年度活动，旨在汇聚政府、青年和利益相关者，共同探讨对新加坡青年至关重要的问题。

最近一次是在7月份于新达城会展中心举行，新加坡青年计划也在会上启动。

Neo表示，纽约市在收到包含数据的文件当天就发现了数据泄露，并要求收件人删除信息。但多次尝试联系收件人均未成功。

纽约市随后评估认为无法采取进一步的合理行动，并于 9 月 3 日通过电子邮件通知受影响的参与者这一事件。

纽约市在电子邮件中表示歉意，并提供了受影响人员就此事与他们联系的渠道。

Neo表示，纽约市警官还亲自与有进一步疑问和担忧的参与者进行了交流。

由于纽约市是公共服务机构，因此不受《个人数据保护法》的约束，也不属于个人数据保护委员会 (PDPC) 的管辖范围。

相反，它必须遵守《公共部门（治理）法》。

根据该法案，未经授权披露和不当使用信息的个人可被判处最高两年监禁并处罚款 5000 美元。

Neo表示，纽约市和文化、社区及青年部非常重视个人数据保护。

“针对此次事件，纽约市已立即采取行动，审查其数据传输流程，并解决可能导致类似情况发生的漏洞。

他还补充说：“公司也在审查组织内的其他数据处理流程，以加强这些流程并建立额外的保障措施。”

9月份媒体报道了两起重大数据泄露事件。

第一起事件涉及电信公司 Simba，该公司透露超过 23,500 名客户的个人信息遭到泄露，包括他们的姓名、身份证号码、出生日期、手机号码和电子邮件地址。

第二起事件涉及超过 95,000 名美珍香顾客，由于错误的提示生成代码，发送的营销电子邮件中包含了所有收件人的地址，所有人都能看到。

这是新加坡首例有报道的人工智能相关数据泄露事件。

两次事件中，PDPC 均已接到通知。

该机构正在调查辛巴事件，并已接受碧青香的自愿承诺，以改善其对《个人资料保护法》的遵守情况。

大卫·孙是《海峡时报》的犯罪记者。他拥有犯罪学背景，并且是一名持证私人侦探。

全国青年理事会

新加坡国会