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Dear readers and members,
As you are aware, we have rolled out age-verification-based access to content discussions on the forums in response to IMDA’s Online Safety Code. Since then, we’ve received feedback regarding the data requested during our sgID verification process.
We would like to address the concerns raised, and help our community understand our current process better.
1. No retention of any personal data after verification session is closed
HWZ currently only requests the Date of Birth (DOB), [myinfo.date_of_birth], which is processed in real-time and in-memory only to mathematically compute whether a user is above 18 years of age. The computed outcome (a simple "Yes/No" value) is the only data stored against the member's account to determine access to content. The DOB is immediately purged after the check and is not stored in our databases, logs, or backups. For reference, here’s a photo showing exactly what is conveyed to sgID:-
tl;dr: We use the DOB solely for the split-second calculation of your age. Once verified, the sgID data is immediately purged. It is never written to our databases, logs, or backups.
2. Clarification about tracking and metadata
There is speculation that we might be encoding usernames or sending metadata to Singpass to link your real identity to your forum account.
This is not true. We do not retain the sgID transaction tokens or unique identifiers after the verification session ends. We are also not able to send your HWZ Forums username, profile ID, or any internal account details to sgID.
tl;dr: No data is transferred without your direct action. HWZ Forums only requests for your date of birth, and sgID explicitly asks for your permission to only share "Date of Birth" before any data is sent.
3. Option to perform a Boolean check instead of requesting for the "Date of Birth" field is currently unavailable
The option to conduct a Boolean check if a user is above 18 and send a "Yes/No" signal for age verification isn't currently available for our integration tier. We understand that sgID is not accepting new scope requests at this time. We’ll revisit the Boolean check option in the near future when it’s made available by sgID / Singpass.
4. FAQ Correction
Users have pointed out that our FAQ describes a simple "Yes/No" age check would be performed for age verification, but the actual process requests for your date of birth. That was our oversight, and we have updated the FAQ to accurately reflect that DOB is requested but immediately purged (zero data retention).
We thank the community for their feedback and your support. We will continue to monitor sgID / Singpass on the roll-out of the Boolean-only check for implementation.
As you are aware, we have rolled out age-verification-based access to content discussions on the forums in response to IMDA’s Online Safety Code. Since then, we’ve received feedback regarding the data requested during our sgID verification process.
We would like to address the concerns raised, and help our community understand our current process better.
1. No retention of any personal data after verification session is closed
HWZ currently only requests the Date of Birth (DOB), [myinfo.date_of_birth], which is processed in real-time and in-memory only to mathematically compute whether a user is above 18 years of age. The computed outcome (a simple "Yes/No" value) is the only data stored against the member's account to determine access to content. The DOB is immediately purged after the check and is not stored in our databases, logs, or backups. For reference, here’s a photo showing exactly what is conveyed to sgID:-
tl;dr: We use the DOB solely for the split-second calculation of your age. Once verified, the sgID data is immediately purged. It is never written to our databases, logs, or backups.
2. Clarification about tracking and metadata
There is speculation that we might be encoding usernames or sending metadata to Singpass to link your real identity to your forum account.
This is not true. We do not retain the sgID transaction tokens or unique identifiers after the verification session ends. We are also not able to send your HWZ Forums username, profile ID, or any internal account details to sgID.
tl;dr: No data is transferred without your direct action. HWZ Forums only requests for your date of birth, and sgID explicitly asks for your permission to only share "Date of Birth" before any data is sent.
3. Option to perform a Boolean check instead of requesting for the "Date of Birth" field is currently unavailable
The option to conduct a Boolean check if a user is above 18 and send a "Yes/No" signal for age verification isn't currently available for our integration tier. We understand that sgID is not accepting new scope requests at this time. We’ll revisit the Boolean check option in the near future when it’s made available by sgID / Singpass.
4. FAQ Correction
Users have pointed out that our FAQ describes a simple "Yes/No" age check would be performed for age verification, but the actual process requests for your date of birth. That was our oversight, and we have updated the FAQ to accurately reflect that DOB is requested but immediately purged (zero data retention).
We thank the community for their feedback and your support. We will continue to monitor sgID / Singpass on the roll-out of the Boolean-only check for implementation.
