The legislature passed an amendment to the Computer-Processed Personal Data Protection Act (電腦保護個人資料處理法) yesterday, exempting media from having to inform and seek consent from individuals before collecting and reporting personal information.
Legislators also agreed to change the title of the act to the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
Under the act, members of the media do not have to inform and obtain the consent of individuals before collecting or reporting their personal information when acting in the public interest.
“The Personal Data Protection Act has a very important spirit. That is, personal data should only be collected for specific purposes. Take the media, for instance. The information they collect should be used in news reports. The exemption will not apply to the marketing or sale of personal information,” said Chin Jeng-shyang (覃正祥), director of the Department of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Justice, after the amendment was passed.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party jointly proposed that the legislature reconsider the amendment after it passed a second reading last week.
Under the original version, the media, political commentators or elected representatives would be required to inform and seek consent from individuals before collecting or published information about them, including their name, date of birth, ID number, occupation, medical records, genetic information and details about their sex life.
However, the bill came under fire from media organizations, which feared the new regulations could undermine freedom of the press.
On Thursday afternoon, the KMT caucus dropped its support for the bill and agreed to postpone its third reading, which had been scheduled to be held the next day.
The amendment that cleared the legislative floor yesterday stipulates that non-governmental organizations or individuals are allowed to search and collect generally accessible data about individuals when acting in the public interest.
In other words, Netizens who launch a campaign to identify individuals involved in violations such as animal abuse would not be considered violators.
Chin told reporters that the ministry would seek to establish a more thorough definition of unclear terms in the act, such as “public interest” or “generally accessible data” and decide how to regulate political commentators’ use and collection of personal data while protecting individual privacy.
The amendment also exempts people who post pictures or videos taken with friends or family during gatherings or at public places on Internet sites such as Facebook from having to obtain the consent of the individuals involved, as long as no other personal information is revealed.
Jason Ho (何吉森), director of the communications content department at the National Communications Commission, said yesterday the commission welcomed the legislature’s decision to exempt news media in the amended act.
Ho, however, said that defining the term “public interest” was difficult. He said the commission was more likely to consult the ministry when executing the act and would work on a case-by-case basis.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHELLEY SHAN
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —