1. Handling Spam In Government Administration – The Singapore Approach Presented to ICA Annual Conference 2004 Presented by Wu Choy Peng (Ms) 20 October 2004 ICA Annual Conference 2004

2. Presentation Outline Setting the Context for Email Spam Singapore’s Anti-Spam Policy Singapore’s Legislative Framework Anti Email Spam in Singapore Government Administration

3. Setting the Context Email Spam has grown rapidly In Singapore, 1 in 3 emails received per day is spam 77% of email spam comes from overseas Email Spam causes productivity loss In Singapore, annual loss for end users estimated at S$23million Un-controlled Email Spam may erode consumer confidence in the use of email [Source: IDA 2003 Survey on Unsolicited Emails Key Findings]

4. Multi-Pronged Anti-Spam Policy Local Internet users (individuals & businesses) Minimise spam problem through public education Local marketers Encourage proper use of email for legitimate online marketing and e-commerce purposes Local ISPs Encourage reduction of spam through technical measures Empowered to fight spam through legal recourse International community Participate as an ally in the fight against cross-border spam

5. Legislative Framework Employs a mix of existing laws and proposed anti- spam laws Proposed Coverage of Anti-Spam Law Failure to honor opt-out request (“opt-out” regime) Misleading subject title or false header Use of [ADV] label Legal recourse for ISPs Existing laws Fraud or cheating by email (Penal Code) Spamming that causes “denial- of-service” (CMA) Spam containing pornography (UPA) Misleading email advertisements (CPFTA)

6. Anti Email Spam Mechanisms Technical Measures (e.g. Anti-spam solution) Incoming Spam Emails Review of Government Instruction Manual (IM) on Email Policy “Government Walks The Talk” Outgoing Spam Emails Public Sector Education

7. Technical Measures in Government Administration Deploy anti-spam solution in service-wide Singapore Government Electronic Mail System Emails identified and tagged with [SPAM] identifier in subject line Client-end filtering to move [SPAM] emails to a separate folder to reduce email clutter End-user triggered notification to “train” the anti- spam solution

8. Policy Measures in Government Administration Explicit policy to prohibit various forms of email misuse by public officers Guidelines and policy on email marketing by government agencies adopt best practice in the private sector

9. Thank you www.ida.gov.sg