Several civic groups yesterday called on opposition parties to hold their ground on freezing the funding for planned new national electronic identification cards, saying that the cards could pose information security risks for Taiwanese.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should be mindful of the risks that the cards pose to people’s basic rights and refrain from hastily passing a budget, the groups said.
The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday agreed to hold extraordinary meetings until Wednesday next week, with marathon sessions running through today and tomorrow.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Taiwan Association for Human Rights deputy secretary-general Ho Ming-hsuan (何明諠) cited sources as saying that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus favors freezing the budget for the cards, while the People First Party (PFP) and the New Power Party (NPP) are in favor of reducing it.
During two question-and-answer sessions in May and September last year, opposition and some DPP legislators called into question “glaring” inadequacies in laws regarding the protection of personal information, Ho said.
Critics have called for legislative amendments to mitigate risks of exposing private information, while the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of the Interior maintained that current regulations would suffice, Ho said.
“Such statements are simply appeasing the Legislative Yuan when in fact the ministry is intending to ram the bill past the legislature,” Ho said, adding that the action was deplorable.
Open Culture Foundation president Lee Po-feng (李柏鋒) said that while the Executive Yuan’s National Development Council has said that the cards are for identification purposes and would allow Taiwanese to access digital government services, it has failed to clarify how the resulting digital footprint would be handled.
Lee said he was confused as to the DPP’s apparent about-face over the issue, citing the example of DPP Legislator Ker Chien-ming’s (柯建銘) objection to the then-Research, Development and Evaluation Commission’s national identification card project in 1998 on grounds of a lack of legal oversight.
Lee also cited the example of DPP Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia’s (羅文嘉) opposition to EasyCard vending machines being installed at elementary and junior-high schools in Taipei, citing information security concerns.
Taiwan Democracy Watch member Tu Yu-yin (涂予尹) said that the controversy over applicable uses of the planned card has far exceeded the parameters of the Household Registration Act (戶籍法) and contravenes the spirit of Council of Grand Justices Constitutional Interpretation No. 603.
Tu also said that there is no competent authority to oversee the implementation of the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法), which should be addressed.
Taiwan Forever Association secretary Peng Chih-cheng (彭至誠) said that the Household Registration Act has no reference to chipped identification cards or protection regarding personal information.
The act also lacks regulation, review standards for information generated by the use of chipped identification cards and legal procedures, which could lead to a contravention of the principles of legal reservation and legal certainty, Peng said.
Contracting outside sources to make chip-embedded identification cards could lead to duplication and people’s information being leaked to China, Peng added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as