Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
2-2025
Abstract
Traditionally, there has been heavy reliance on formal notice and consent models for data protection regimes. However, consent (in particular digital consent) is rarely extended meaningfully in practice, due to behavioural factors including data subjects’ limited cognitive capacity, rational apathy, and dependency on the digital infrastructure around them. Synthesizing legal perspectives with insights drawn from the behavioural and social sciences, this article analyzes the consent problem in the smart city context, where it is exacerbated due to prevailing issues such as economic disincentives for ensuring meaningful consent, since essential urban infrastructure is often provided by private companies. Recognizing the shortcomings of what we call the Consent Model, Singapore has enacted new amendments to its Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) in 2021, shifting towards what we call an Accountability Model, that repositions the burden of data management away from data subjects and towards organizations. Critics of this alternative approach argue that it tends to be business oriented and that the interests of data subjects could be overshadowed. This article argues that Singapore’s PDPA is in fact a Hybrid Model. While emphasizing the value of accountability from data-holding organizations, it also recognizes the importance of consent where appropriate in the smart city. The article proposes ways of enhancing both the consent and accountability components of the Singaporean data governance regime. It recommends policy and legal reforms, including introducing a participatory component to the Accountability Model to ensure that data subjects' voices are effectively incorporated into the formulation and implementation of data protection policies.
Discipline
Asian Studies | Privacy Law
Research Areas
Corporate, Finance and Securities Law
Publication
International Data Privacy Law
Volume
15
Issue
1
First Page
48
Last Page
66
ISSN
2044-3994
Identifier
10.1093/idpl/ipaf002
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Citation
ZHANG, Wenxi; M SHANMUGAM, Sharanya; and ALLEN, J.G..
Comparing smart city data protection approaches: Digital consent and the accountability framework in Singapore. (2025). International Data Privacy Law. 15, (1), 48-66.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/4699
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/idpl/ipaf002