Overview of Personal Data and the PDPA in Singapore

The PDPA does not specifically confer any property or ownership rights on personal data per se to individuals or organisations and also does not affect existing property rights in items in which personal data may be captured or stored.

Personal data, as used in the PDPA, refers to the information comprised in the personal data and not the physical form or medium in which it is stored, such as a database or a book. The PDPA provides data subjects with some extent of control over personal data, e.g., controlling the purpose of use through consent and withdrawal of consent, accessing and requesting for a copy of personal data or for corrections to be made.

However, despite having control over personal data, data subjects do not own the information comprised in the personal data.