{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]],"date-time":"2026-01-30T05:13:45Z","timestamp":1769750025383,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,1]],"date-time":"2022-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1640995200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Big Data &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p> Effective social data governance rests on a bedrock of social support. Without securing trust from the populace whose information is being collected, analyzed, and deployed, policies on which such data are based will be undermined by a lack of public confidence. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalization and datafication by governments for the purposes of contact tracing and epidemiological investigation. However, concerns about surveillance and data privacy have stunted the adoption of such contact-tracing initiatives. This commentary analyzes Singapore's contact-tracing initiative to uncover the reasons for public resistance and efforts by the state to address them. The government's contact-tracing program encompassing its proprietary TraceTogether app and physical token initially triggered vociferous public criticisms of Big Brother style surveillance. Using a dialogic communication framework, we analyze the TraceTogether initiative to interrogate the communicative strategies that were used to overcome public resistance. We argue that these strategies reflect a top-down approach that prioritizes transactional dissemination of information, in line with Singapore's technocratic stance toward governance. We further assert that such communicative tactics represent missed opportunities to foster public confidence in social data governance through greater trust building. We propose solutions for more dialogic communicative forms that build trust, so that officials can develop a sound understanding of the public concerns, increase the level of public engagement, and incorporate public feedback into policies that govern data use. <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/20539517221104086","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,28]],"date-time":"2022-06-28T18:10:24Z","timestamp":1656439824000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Communicative strategies for building public confidence in data governance: Analyzing Singapore's COVID-19 contact-tracing initiatives"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7046-0278","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gordon Kuo Siong","family":"Tan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Singapore University of Technology and Design, Humanities and Social Sciences, Singapore, Singapore"}]},{"given":"Sun Sun","family":"Lim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Singapore University of Technology and Design, Humanities and Social Sciences, Singapore, Singapore"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/00472330802078485"},{"key":"bibr2-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-020-02072-3"},{"key":"bibr3-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/978-1-80071-264-520211001"},{"key":"bibr4-20539517221104086","unstructured":"Chong P, Velpula M (2020) Data Protection and Privacy in Covid-19 Times. Available at: https:\/\/journal.isca.org.sg\/2020\/09\/17\/data-protection-and-privacy-in-covid-19-times\/pugpig_index.html (accessed 5 January 2021)."},{"key":"bibr5-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2589-7500(20)30137-0"},{"key":"bibr6-20539517221104086","unstructured":"GovTech (2020) Improving TraceTogether through community engagement. Available at: https:\/\/www.tech.gov.sg\/media\/technews\/2020-07-06-tracetogether-token-teardown (accessed 5 January 2021)."},{"key":"bibr7-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511563737"},{"key":"bibr8-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0363-8111(02)00108-X"},{"key":"bibr9-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0263775815595814"},{"key":"bibr10-20539517221104086","unstructured":"Ng A (2020) Contact-tracing apps have a trust problem, even if they do protect your privacy. Available at: https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/health\/contact-tracing-apps-have-a-trust-problem-even-if-they-do-protect-your-privacy\/ (accessed 5 January 2021)."},{"key":"bibr30-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2053951720952088"},{"key":"bibr11-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3428093"},{"key":"bibr12-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41591-020-0928-y"},{"key":"bibr13-20539517221104086","unstructured":"Sim D (2020) How did Singapore get residents to trust its TraceTogether virus app? South China Morning Post, 26 December. Available at: https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/week-asia\/health-environment\/article\/3115367\/how-did-singapore-get-residents-stop-worrying-and (accessed 4 January 2021)."},{"key":"bibr14-20539517221104086","unstructured":"Soon C (2020) Getting buy-in for TraceTogether device and future Smart Nation initiatives. The Straits Times, 13 June. Available at: https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/opinion\/getting-buy-in-for-tracetogether-device-and-future-smart-nation-initiatives (accessed 5 January 2021)."},{"key":"bibr15-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/01292986.2013.851722"},{"key":"bibr16-20539517221104086","unstructured":"Tan G (2020) TraceTogether presents chance for Singapore to restore track record on data privacy and security. TODAYonline, 22 May. Available at: https:\/\/www.todayonline.com\/commentary\/tracetogether-covid-19-chance-singapore-restore-track-record-data-privacy-and-security (accessed 6 January 2021)."},{"key":"bibr17-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1062726X.2014.956106"},{"key":"bibr18-20539517221104086","unstructured":"Tham I (2018) Personal info of 1.5\u2005m SingHealth patients, including PM Lee, stolen in Singapore\u2019s worst cyber attack. The Straits Times, 20 July. Available at: https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/personal-info-of-15m-singhealth-patients-including-pm-lee-stolen-in-singapores-most (accessed 15 April 2021)."},{"key":"bibr19-20539517221104086","unstructured":"Tham Y-C (2021a) More than 4.2\u2005m people using TraceTogether, token distribution to resume soon: Lawrence Wong. The Straits Times, 4 January. Available at: https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/politics\/parliament-more-than-42m-people-using-tracetogether-token-distribution-to-resume (accessed 4 January 2021)."},{"key":"bibr20-20539517221104086","unstructured":"Tham Y-C (2021b) Police can access TraceTogether data only through person involved in criminal probe: Vivian Balakrishnan. The Straits Times, 5 January. Available at: https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/politics\/police-can-access-tracetogether-data-only-through-person-involved-in-criminal (accessed 15 April 2021)."},{"key":"bibr21-20539517221104086","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(96)90283-4"},{"key":"bibr22-20539517221104086","volume-title":"Law as Communication. European Academy of Legal Theory Monograph Series","author":"Van Hoecke M","year":"2002"}],"container-title":["Big Data &amp; Society"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/20539517221104086","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/20539517221104086","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/20539517221104086","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,3]],"date-time":"2025-03-03T12:05:22Z","timestamp":1741003522000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/20539517221104086"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,1]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/20539517221104086"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/20539517221104086","relation":{},"ISSN":["2053-9517","2053-9517"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2053-9517","type":"print"},{"value":"2053-9517","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,1]]},"article-number":"20539517221104086"}}