ERP 2 data to be used for crime prevention and criminal investigations from Jan 2027

Data collected and utilised as part of the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) 2 system can be used by law enforcement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Transport (MOT) said in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 3).

While ERP 2.0 is designed primarily for road pricing, parliamentary replies on Nov 3 shed further light on how data from the system may be accessed and used for law enforcement and criminal investigations.

Much like ERP 1, ERP 2 supports functions related to motoring, including the enforcement of laws and regulations, Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling said.

She explained that although data collected on individual vehicles is aggregated and anonymised when transferred to LTA's backend systems for traffic planning and management, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) can retrieve location data from sensors and systems when specific vehicles need to be identified for enforcement purposes.

"LTA has done this for enforcement against serious offences such as illegal cross-border taxi services and for detecting deregistered vehicles," she said. "Like all other Government data, ERP 2 data will be subject to existing statutory obligations."

Sun was responding to a Parliamentary question filed by Tin Pei Ling, who asked whether data collected by ERP 2 might support enforcement and investigations by other Government agencies.

In a separate parliamentary question, Jackson Lam asked whether police or other Home Team agencies would be able to access ERP 2.0 vehicle-specific data for criminal investigations or national security purposes, and what legal basis and safeguards would govern such access.

In response, Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming shared that the Home Team plans to begin using ERP 2 data from January 2027 to prevent, detect and solve crimes.

He shared that Home Team agencies are already authorised by law to obtain information from all available sources, including sensors.

For example, under Section 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the police may order the production of any document or other thing that is necessary or desirable for an investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding.

"ERP 2 data will be subject to safeguards on its access and use, as with other data used by the Home Team," he added.

Moreover, the police will hold data obtained only for the duration needed to fulfil the purpose it was accessed for, Goh said.

He continued: "Where the data used is for criminal investigations or court proceedings, the police will likewise retain the data for as long as necessary to complete the investigation or to complete the court proceedings."

khooyihang@asiaone.com

内政部和交通部周二（11 月 3 日）在议会表示，作为电子道路收费 (ERP) 2 系统一部分收集和利用的数据可供执法部门使用。

虽然 ERP 2.0 的设计初衷主要是为了道路收费，但 11 月 3 日的议会答复进一步阐明了如何访问和使用该系统中的数据进行执法和刑事调查。

交通运输部高级国务部长孙雪玲表示，ERP 2 与 ERP 1 类似，支持与汽车相关的功能，包括法律法规的执行。

她解释说，虽然收集到的关于单个车辆的数据在传输到陆路交通管理局的后端系统进行交通规划和管理时会被汇总和匿名化，但当需要识别特定车辆以进行执法时，陆路交通管理局可以从传感器和系统中检索位置数据。

她表示：“陆路交通管理局这样做是为了打击非法跨境出租车服务等严重违法行为，以及查处已注销车辆。与其他所有政府数据一样，ERP 2数据也将受到现有法律义务的约束。”

孙先生是在回应陈佩玲议员提出的议会质询时做出上述表态的。陈佩玲议员询问，ERP 2 收集的数据是否可以支持其他政府机构的执法和调查工作。

在另一项议会质询中，林志强询问警方或其他内政团队机构是否能够出于刑事调查或国家安全目的获取ERP 2.0车辆特定数据，以及此类访问将受到何种法律依据和保障措施的约束。

对此，内政部高级政务部长吴佩明表示，内政团队计划从 2027 年 1 月起开始使用 ERP 2 数据来预防、侦查和侦破犯罪。

他表示，内政团队机构已经依法获得授权，可以从所有可用来源（包括传感器）获取信息。

例如，根据《刑事诉讼法》第 20 条，警方可以命令出示任何对调查、询问、审判或其他诉讼程序是必要或可取的任何文件或其他物品。

他还补充说：“ERP 2 数据的访问和使用将受到保护，就像内政团队使用的其他数据一样。”

吴先生表示，此外，警方只会将获取的数据保留至完成获取目的所需的时间。

他继续说道：“如果使用的数据用于刑事调查或法庭诉讼，警方同样会将数据保留至完成调查或完成法庭诉讼所需的时间。”

khooyihang@asiaone.com