Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on the Israeli Company QuaDream’s Spyware

Question:

Mr Leon Perera : To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Government is a user of Israeli company QuaDream’s spyware; and (b) whether the Government deploys this or other spyware technologies in Singapore.

Answer:

Mr Desmond Tan, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment:

1.    Mr Deputy Speaker, one of the most critical responsibilities of the Government is to keep Singapore safe, secure, and sovereign. We have to deal with serious national security threats to Singapore ranging from terrorism to foreign subversion, espionage and interference. To this end, agencies charged with the mission of safeguarding national security necessarily have to rely on a range of intelligence capabilities, including harnessing technology.

2.    For obvious reasons, the Government cannot and should not discuss specifics on any operational aspects or capabilities regarding our national security.