SINGAPORE: A "technical issue" with the IT system used by the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has resulted in the data leak of personal data belonging to more than 3,300 individuals.

A spokesperson for the industry regulator told CNA on Sunday (Jan 26) the technical issue with its IT system was discovered at about 11.21am on Jan 22.

The leaked information, comprising 3,320 names and National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) numbers, was sent to 18 unintended recipients the night before, CEA said. 

All of the data belonged to "individuals who had previously registered for the March 2024 real estate salesperson or April 2024 real estate agency examinations", it added.

No contact information such as phone numbers or email addresses were disclosed, CEA stressed. The incident was first reported by Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao.

CEA said it took immediate action to disable the affected system function and launched a full investigation to identify the root cause.

"Preliminary investigations indicate that this is an isolated incident arising from a technical issue in our IT system," it added.

"The system has since been secured and recovery steps have been taken to contain it."

CEA said that it had contacted the 18 recipients as soon as the issue was reported.

Current and former property agents, as well as previous candidates for the real estate salesperson examination were among the individuals who had received the "unintended" email.

The 18 recipients deleted the email and its contents "without forwarding or using the data", according to CEA.