Privacy Policy

Effective date: 20 September 2026

1. About this Policy

Schemes.sg is a community project operated by better.sg Limited, a Singapore public company limited by guarantee and registered charity. In this Policy, "Schemes.sg", "better.sg", "we", "us", and "our" refer to better.sg Limited in its operation of Schemes.sg.

Legal entity: better.sg Limited
Unique Entity Number: 202015048G
Charity Registration Number: 202016788N

Schemes.sg helps people, social-service professionals, and community organisations find information about assistance schemes in Singapore. The service includes the Schemes.sg website, search and chat features, forms, published application programming interfaces ("APIs"), and related applications that we operate together as the "Service".

This Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, protect, and retain personal data in connection with the Service. We handle personal data in accordance with Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act 2012 ("PDPA").

2. Scope

This Policy applies to personal data that we control in connection with the Service, including personal data from:

Visitors to schemes.sg
People who use search or chat features
People who submit feedback, ratings, new schemes, or corrections
Developers and organisations that access a published Schemes.sg API
Representatives of partner organisations and scheme providers
People who contact the Schemes.sg team

This Policy does not govern a third-party website, application, or service, even if it links to Schemes.sg or uses Schemes.sg data. The operator of that service is responsible for its own privacy practices. Schemes.sg's Terms of Service govern access to and reuse of public scheme data.

3. Personal Data We Collect

We collect limited data depending on how you use the Service. Ordinary use does not require your name or contact details. Search or chat text can still be personal data if you include information about yourself or another person.

Search and chat data
Search terms or chat prompts that you submit, selected filters, generated responses, and scheme results. Ordinary searches do not require an account or direct identifiers.

Feedback and contribution data
Your name, email address, feedback text, and ratings, and for proposed schemes or corrections the details and source links you provide.

API and account data
API key identifier, organisation details, authentication records, and API usage records for partner organisations that we issue an API key to.

Technical and usage data
Website analytics and technical data, including pages viewed, session statistics, approximate location, browser and device information, referral source, interaction events (described in Section 3.4), and analytics identifiers. Google may process IP addresses to provide Google Analytics, detect spam, and derive coarse location, and states that it discards the raw IP address after use.

Cookies and local-storage data
Google Analytics cookies and similar identifiers, including a cookie-based client identifier. Better.sg does not receive raw IP addresses in Google Analytics reports. Your language choice is kept in your browser's local storage.

Public-source data
Publicly available contact or professional information included in a scheme provider's public materials.

3.1 Information in Search and Chat Inputs

You do not need to provide your name, NRIC number, full address, phone number, financial account details, medical records, or another direct identifier to search for schemes.

However, a free-text search or chat message can reveal sensitive circumstances, such as financial hardship, health conditions, disability, family circumstances, housing needs, or immigration status. Do not include direct identifiers or more personal data than is necessary. Do not submit another person's personal data unless you have authority to do so.

3.2 Data We Do Not Intend to Collect

Schemes.sg is an information-discovery service. It does not process applications for assistance schemes and does not need identity documents, passwords, Singpass credentials, bank information, or full case files. Do not submit these items through the Service.

If we identify personal data that is not needed for the Service, we may remove, redact, anonymise, or delete it.

3.3 Cookies and Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use Schemes.sg and to improve the Service. Google Analytics processes pseudonymous usage data, including page and session activity, approximate location, browser and device information, and a cookie-based client identifier. Google may process an IP address to operate the analytics service, detect spam, and derive coarse location, and states that it discards the raw address after use. Better.sg does not receive raw IP addresses in Google Analytics reports. Your current conversation is held in the browser session so that it survives a page refresh. Your browser clears this when you close the tab, and it is not transmitted to Google Analytics.

You can control cookies through your browser, and you can opt out of Google Analytics with Google's opt-out browser add-on or a browser extension that blocks it. We will update this Policy if we enable advertising features or materially change our analytics configuration.

3.4 What Our Analytics Events Record

In addition to page and session activity, we record a small number of named events so that we can see where the Service helps people and where it does not. These record:

that a question was submitted to the chat
that an answer was shown, how long it took to begin and to complete, and how many schemes it returned
that a chat was stopped, failed, or exited before an answer appeared
that a telephone number or email address for a scheme provider was selected
that a scheme page was shared
links clicked that lead to other websites
which scheme you opened or viewed
which catalogue filter you applied
which developer-documentation sections were viewed, which code samples were copied, and when API access was requested

These events record that an action occurred, together with timings and counts. They do not carry the text of your search or chat message, or the text of a generated response. We may add further events of this kind as the Service develops, and will update this Policy where a new event materially changes the description above.

4. How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data:

Directly from you when you search, chat, submit a form, provide feedback, request API access, or contact us
Through Google Analytics and service providers that operate or secure the Service, subject to their configuration and applicable law
From an application or organisation through which you access a Schemes.sg API
From scheme providers, partner organisations, and public sources when we compile and maintain scheme information
From service providers that help us operate, secure, and improve the Service

If a third-party application sends your personal data to a Schemes.sg API, the application operator must give you its own privacy notice and have a lawful basis to make that disclosure. We process the data received by our API only for the purposes stated in this Policy and any applicable API documentation.

5. Why We Use Personal Data

We may collect, use, and disclose personal data to:

Provide search, chat, API, and other Service functions. Schemes.sg identifies and explains potentially relevant schemes; it does not determine eligibility or make decisions with legal or similarly significant effect
Maintain a session and return relevant scheme information
Process search or chat inputs and generated results to provide the requested recommendation
Respond to feedback, enquiries, and support requests
Review, verify, and process proposed schemes or corrections
Monitor quality, evaluate search and AI performance, and improve the Service
Detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, misuse, security incidents, and excessive automated traffic
Measure Service usage and produce aggregated or anonymised statistics
Maintain technical operations, troubleshoot faults, and protect Service integrity
Manage API access, credentials, limits, and developer communications
Meet legal, regulatory, audit, and governance obligations
Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims

We will not use personal data for a new purpose unless that purpose is permitted by law or we first give the required notice and obtain consent where needed.

7. How We Disclose Personal Data

We may disclose personal data only where reasonably necessary for the purposes in this Policy, including to:

Authorised better.sg directors, officers, volunteers, project leads, and contractors on a need-to-know basis
Cloud hosting, database, authentication, email, security, analytics, and technical service providers
AI and machine-learning service providers that process search or chat inputs and generate responses
Collaboration and workflow providers used to review feedback and scheme submissions
A scheme provider or partner organisation when needed to verify a submission, respond to an enquiry, or correct scheme information
Professional advisers, auditors, insurers, and governance bodies
Public authorities, regulators, courts, or law-enforcement bodies where required or permitted by law
A successor organisation if responsibility for Schemes.sg is transferred, subject to applicable law

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal data.

Some service providers may process personal data outside Singapore. Where we transfer personal data outside Singapore, we take steps required by the PDPA to ensure a standard of protection comparable to that under the PDPA, including contractual safeguards where appropriate.

8. Retention

Ordinary searches do not require direct identifiers, but search or chat text may contain personal data and Google Analytics processes pseudonymous usage data. We retain such data only while it serves a legal or operational purpose. We then delete or anonymise it unless retention is required by law. Google Analytics data is retained for 14 months from collection and is then deleted automatically by Google. Google Analytics retains data according to the retention settings configured for the Schemes.sg property.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, loss, disposal, or similar risks. Measures may include:

Access controls based on role and operational need
Authentication and credential controls
Encryption in transit and, where supported, at rest
Logging, monitoring, backups, and incident-response processes
Data minimisation, retention controls, and secure deletion
Confidentiality and data-protection guidance for people who handle personal data
Security review of service providers and system changes

No internet service is completely secure. You should not send confidential information that the Service does not request. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in significant harm to an affected individual, or that is of a significant scale, we will notify the Personal Data Protection Commission and affected individuals as required under Part VIA of the PDPA.

10. Accuracy and Data Minimisation

We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal data is accurate and complete where it is likely to be used to make a decision that affects you or disclosed to another organisation. You can help by giving accurate information and telling us when it changes.

We design the Service to work without direct identifiers for ordinary searches. We may remove unnecessary personal data from feedback, contributions, or search records.

11. Your Requests and Rights

Where better.sg holds personal data that can reasonably be linked to you, and subject to the PDPA and applicable exceptions, you may:

Ask for access to personal data that we hold about you and information about how we used or disclosed it during the preceding year
Ask us to correct an error or omission in your personal data
If we rely on consent for an optional submission, withdraw that consent with reasonable notice
Ask us to stop sending optional communications
Ask us to delete personal data that is no longer needed, although the PDPA does not provide an unconditional right to erasure
Raise a concern about how we handle personal data

Send a request to the Data Protection Officer listed in Section 14. We may need information to verify your identity and locate relevant records. If information is anonymous and cannot reasonably be linked to you, we may be unable to locate it.

We will respond within the period required by law. We may charge a reasonable fee for an access request where permitted, after giving you a written estimate.

12. Public Scheme Data, APIs, and Scraping

Public scheme records and personal data are treated differently.

Our Terms of Service permit automated access to and reuse of specified public scheme data, including through scraping and published APIs. That permission does not apply to search queries, chat histories, feedback, contributor contact details, API credentials, security data, or other user personal data.

We do not intend to expose user personal data through a public API or public dataset. If you believe that personal data has been exposed unintentionally, stop using or redistributing it and notify our Data Protection Officer promptly.

A developer or organisation that collects personal data through its own application using Schemes.sg data is independently responsible for its collection, use, disclosure, security, and privacy notice.

13. Third-Party Links and Services

The Service links to government agencies, social-service organisations, application portals, and other external services. Those organisations control their own websites and privacy practices. Review their privacy notices before submitting personal data. We are not responsible for their handling of personal data.

14. Data Protection Officer and Contact

For access or correction requests, consent withdrawal, privacy questions, or suspected exposure of personal data, contact:

Organisation: better.sg Limited
Data Protection Officer: Data Protection Officer, better.sg Limited
Email: info@better.sg
Schemes.sg general enquiries: info@better.sg
Website: https://schemes.sg

15. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy when the Service, our practices, or legal requirements change. We will post the updated Policy with a revised effective date. If a change materially affects how we handle personal data, we will provide any additional notice required by law.

16. Our Volunteer-Run Nature

Schemes.sg is primarily volunteer-built in support of better.sg's charitable mission. Better.sg remains responsible for its personal-data practices and reviews them as the Service evolves.

We welcome questions or suggestions about privacy. Contact us at info@better.sg.