Book Launch – Privacy & Data Protection Law

On 13 August 2026, Mr Benjamin Wong launched his book, Privacy and Data Protection Law, at the Singapore Academy of Law at the Adelphi. He was joined by Professor David Tan (Co-Director, TRAIL), Ms Gail Wong (Assistant Commissioner, Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC)) and Mr Yu Ken Li (Group Data Protection Officer, Advance Intelligence Group) for a lively panel discussion after delivering his lecture titled “Boundaries of Privacy Law”.

In his lecture, Benjamin highlighted the inherent tension between protecting victims of privacy invasions and preventing laws from being oppressive, and how section 3 of the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) sets out the purpose of the legislation which also seeks to establish a balanced and reasonable approach in Singapore’s statutory regime. He also traced the tentative judicial development of the common law tort of harassment to address the lacuna in the tort of private nuisance in respect of emails, calls and messages received outside of the home, and the eventual passage of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014 which makes available a civil cause of action for victims who experience offence, fear, distress or annoyance as a result of such modern communications. Last but not least, Benjamin discussed the ambit of the reasonableness defence under the PDPA and the future boundaries of privacy law that include the Data Portability Obligation under the PDPA and the Online Safety Rules under the new Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025.

Privacy and Data Protection Law is published by Academy Publishing under its Monograph Series. With 21 chapters stretching just over 200 pages, it is a veritable treatise and a valuable guide for legal practitioners, data protection officers and law students to effectively navigate the PDPA and the decisions of the PDPC.

Mr Benjamin Wong is a Senior Lecturer at NUS Law, and an academic fellow at the Centre for Technology, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & the Law. He graduated with an LLM (Distinction) from LSE and LLB (Hons) from NUS. Benjamin’s primary research interests are in data protection law and the law of confidential information. In 2018, he pioneered the Privacy & Data Protection Law course at NUS Law. Since 2019, he has delivered lectures on breach of confidence and data protection at the annual Developments in IP Law Seminar Series organised by IPOS International. Benjamin’s publications have appeared in a range of journals, such as Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, Singapore Academy of Law Journal, Asian Journal of International Law, Law Quarterly Review and Legal Studies. He is also the recipient of several research grants, notably partnership grants with the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and Melbourne Law School. Prior to joining NUS, Benjamin worked in the field of telecommunications, media, and technology law at Drew & Napier LLC.