The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore in 2020 launched the National Cybersecurity R&D Programme, which aims to promote research and development (R&D) work with academic partners and research institutes. The agency has selected proposals from SMU, NUS and NTU out of a total of 13 cybersecurity proposals, and will be funding the research projects for a span of 24 months. SMU will develop a set of tools to block unnecessary code in Android apps so that users do not have to encounter the "dilemma" of granting permission to apps that would not be able to function otherwise. SMU Associate Professor of Computer Science Gao Debin pointed out that many Android apps require users to grant permission that is not needed at all in the core functionality. However, if permission is not granted, the user may not be able to proceed with using the app. SMU's research project aims to keep the app running while ensuring user privacy.