Technology disruption has swept through legal practice and the justice system, as it has in every other aspect of life in our new normal of remote work and online access. While digital transformation has been hugely beneficial to our society, there are new legal and cybersecurity questions that we need to grapple with as we continue to serve the public. Among the public, varying levels of digital capability and access raise new issues of digital inclusion for us to address in policy and operations. This talk seeks to raise awareness of these issues and to develop ideas for practical application.

1. Technology
Disruption in
the New
Normal, Digital
Inclusion and
the Law'
Benjamin Ang
Senior Fellow, Cyber and
Homeland Defence
Deputy Head, Centre of
Excellence for National
Security (CENS), RSIS, NTU
Twitter @benjaminang

2. 1. TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION,
LEGAL PRACTICE, AND THE COURTS
Technology disruption has swept through legal practice and the
justice system, as it has in every other aspect of life in our new
normal of remote work and online access.

3. Digital Disruption is the change that
occurs when new digital
technologies and business models
impact the value proposition of
existing business

4. Examples of Tech Disrupting Business
FINTECH (Apple / Android Pay)
• transferring funds without owning banks
Ride-sharing (Uber, Grab, Go-Jek)
• transporting passengers without owning taxis
AirBnB
• providing rooms without owning hotels

5. Examples of Tech Disrupting Business
Artificial Intelligence
• Making decisions without humans
Social Media
• Broadcasting news without stations
Food delivery
• Providing food without owning restaurants or
employing drivers

6. “In 10 years’ time if you were to look
at the top 20 legal providers by
revenue, half will be non-lawyers.”
Professor Richard Susskind

7. Altman Weil 2020 Chief Legal Officer Survey

8. LegalMation
Uses IBM Watson AI
technology
Complaint + nature of
suit + jurisdiction = draft
answer and discovery
requests IN 2 MINUTES
Walmart expecting 60%
– 80% time cost savings

9. AI in Document Review
• Cooley (US Law Firm)
used AI to identify
word concepts and
classify 29,000,000
litigation documents
• Pinsent Masons uses
AI to extract, review
and analyse
information held in
legal documents

10. Online Dispute Resolution
eBay ODR System
• handles over 60 million
disputes a year e.g., "item
not received," "item not
as described," and
"unpaid item”
PayPal ODR System
• Participation in ODR led
to increased activity by
both winners and losers
(did not receive a
reimbursement)!

11. The UK is playing a significant role
in lawtech on the world stage. The
closest competitors are Singapore,
Hong Kong and the Netherlands
UK Law Society LawTech Report 2019

12. Online Dispute Resolution in
Singapore
• State Courts – ODR for personal injury from road
traffic accidents
• Family Justice Courts – for maintenance
• Singapore Mediation Centre
• Community Dispute Resolution Tribunals
• ECTs for MOM disputes – ¾ cases resolved without
reaching hearing
• What has your experience been with ODR (or any
other Court technology)? Please share in the Padlet

13. Singapore companies providing
Document Automation
• Legalease, Vanilla Law Docs, OCBC Wills
• Source: State of Legal Innovation in APAC Report, SAL

14. Simulating divorce case outcomes

15. Tech innovations by Singapore courts

16. 2. CYBER AND LEGAL ISSUES
While digital transformation has been hugely beneficial to our
society, there are new legal and cybersecurity questions that we
need to grapple with as we continue to serve the public.

17. Cyber Threat Actors
(Source: FBI Cyber Division’s Senior Cyber and Counterintelligence SME,
Darren Mott interview with Digital Shadows)

18. Cybercrime on the rise in Singapore
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Losses ($million)
E-Commerce Scams
2018 2019
6215
9430
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
Cases
Cybercrime in Singapore
2018 2019

19. 11% rise in Crime in
Q1 and Q2 / 2020,
driven by online
scams

20. Disruptive companies get attacked
• Uber data breach 57
million riders/drivers
• Hackers hijack Airbnb
accounts to rob hosts'
homes
• Facebook 540 million
users’ data exposed
• Twitter 32 millions
users’ accounts
breached
Because …
• Startups prioritize
growth >> security
• Regulations <<
innovation (blockchain,
robotadvisors, micro-
loans)

21. Disruptive technology gets hacked
• Feeding bad data
• Fooling autonomous
vehicles to misinterpret
stop signs vs. speed
limit
• Bypassing facial
recognition
• Bypassing email filters
• Pre-existing risk of bias

22. Disruptive technology can be biased
• COMPAS (Correctional
Offender Management
Profiling for Alternative
Sanctions) was used to
assess risk of re-
offending
• It was heavily (2x) biased
against black defendants

23. Who is liable when a Smart Home is
breached?

24. Who is liable when a Smart Car has an
accident?

25. Cybercrime is disruptive
• Botnets – attacking targets without a network

26. Cybercrime gets digital disruption too
• Hacking as a service – hacking for criminals who
don’t have hacking capabilities

27. JUSTICE AND THE DIGITAL
DIVIDE
Among the public, varying levels of digital capability and access
raise new issues of digital inclusion for us to address in policy and
operations.

28. Digital divide in Singapore
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
% with Internet
Households with
Internet
1 & 2 room HDB Private
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
% with Computer
Households with
Computers
1 -2 room HDB Private

29. Digital Inequality during COVID
HBL in a rental flat HBL in a condo

30. Digital Inequality during COVID
WFH with old computers WFH with new computers
• Lacking current antivirus
or firewalls to protect the
user and data
• Outdated operating
system that can’t be
secured
• Lack of knowledge or
help when it breaks down
• Vulnerable to scams
• Mobile-only access
• Most updated antivirus
and firewalls to protect
users and data
• Updated operating
system with current
security ‘patches’
• Received training, has
access to helpdesk
• Trained to spot scams
• Big screen (or two)

31. Projects like this help to bridge the
digital divide

32. Supreme Court / DBS Hackathon
Most Feasible Award Most Life-Changing
Award
Most Human-Centred
Educate and empower
wives who were facing
family violence by
providing them with a
one-stop platform with
self-help tools to guide
them through their legal
options as well as how
they could get support
from social services.
How migrant workers
could better understand
their legal rights and
better navigate
Singapore’s legal
system.: easy-to-use,
downloadable, online
platform containing
information in different
native languages.
Consider how every
accused person who
wanted help but could
not afford a lawyer,
could be provided with
legal assistance to best
present their case.
LAB Legal Tech (Legal
Aid Bureau)
Access & Opportunity
(Allen & Overy LLP)
Aid-in-Person (State
Courts and Eden Law
Corporation)