With the recent news that Razer Singapore would be giving out 5 million free surgical masks while ramping its production line to produce up to 10 million masks per month, this couldn’t have come at better time.
The Shinobis (ninjas) at Privacy Ninja really salute and applaud the good intentions and social enterprise spirit from Razer, to give back to the community and help fight the spread of the Corona Virus. But there are others who beg to differ, citing various speculations that this may be a strategic marketing ploy for brand awareness, an easy way to rapidly increase mass adoption for their Razer Pay App, or to gather personal data on a large scale, effectively killing multiple birds with one stone.. or one mask, for the matter.
Screengrab via Facebook
To be eligible for the free mask giveaway, where each individual is only entitled to a piece of mask, you will need to register an account on the Razer Pay app, after which in future you will receive a QR coupon code that can be scanned at Razer Singapore’s mask dispensing vending machines.
A QR coupon code will have to be scanned at vending machines for mask collection. (Photo: CNA)
We decided to read the Razer App’s privacy policy before proceeding with the registration process, and we saw that under the Information We Collect section, the following data was stated to be collected:
1. Full Name;
2. Identification Number (e.g. NRIC number, passport number);
3. Company Name (if any);
4. Home and/or work Address;
5. Occupation;
6. Email Address;
7. Credit Card details;
8. Bank Account details; and/or
9. Phone Number (e.g. Mobile and/or fixed line)
Screengrab: Razer App Privacy Policy
However, upon actually signing up on the app, after verifying our mobile number via SMS OTP, the app requires us to input our Date of Birth and Nationality as well. We stopped registering right there in case more personal data was requested in subsequent pages. Personally, we do not feel quite the need to give away so much personal data, in exchange for one mask that can only be used one time. A full box, maybe.. But one? No thanks! But anyways that’s just our opinion.
Razer’s justification as to why they are collecting all this personal data and information, is because they do not have access to government resources like everyone’s NRIC, funding it totally themselves and registering yourself on their App would be the fastest way to verify your identity and prevent fraudulent claiming of your one free disposable mask.
Separately, another shinobi decided to take closer look at Razer’s main Privacy Policy found here and it pretty much looks like the standard multi-paged professional corporate privacy policy.. until he spotted this: (for example, by “liking” Razer’s profile on Facebook or Twitter, posting a message, or answering a poll), we will have access to the information you divulge which may include Personal Information, depending on your SNS privacy settings.
According to their section 2 Information We May Collect About You, point (i) Activities on Social Networking Sites (SNS), we were surprised to learn that Razer may be collecting the personal data of anyone clicking their Facebook or Twitter profile/page.
Screengrab: Razer Corporate Privacy Policy
Our curiosity has indeed been piqued at this point and we decided to use a free web technology information profiler tool called buildwith.com to see what Analytics and Tracking features that Razer has installed on their website and we weren’t really surprised at the array that greeted us.
Razer is after all, a listed global gaming product company.
Have a look for yourself:
What are your thoughts after reading this article? Some may think it’s pretty hardcore tracking and analytics that Razer Singapore has ongoing, and some may say it’s normal for big firms like them.
Do you feel comfortable giving away all your personal data in exchange for receiving one disposable mask? Do you believe that the mask giveaway is purely charitable? Let us know your comments.
P.S – I’m a Razer fan and this article was typed out on my Razer Blackwidow X Chroma.
We are currently offering free PDPA checkup and vetting of your company’s privacy policy. Please do check out these links:
https://www.privacy.com.sg/pdpa/free-pdpa-compliance-checkup/
https://www.privacy.com.sg/pdpa/free-privacy-policy-review/
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