The Hsinchu City Government yesterday announced that it would likely delay a trial of the new national electronic identification card (eID) after privacy groups and city councilors said that city residents should not made into government “lab rats.”
“Our No. 1 priority is our residents and the security of their data. If the central government cannot reassure us about the information security concerns, this government will be inclined to delay the pilot program,” the statement said.
“The city government has heard the voices of many citizens and experts who expressed concerns and made suggestions about the eID program, as we continue to communicate with the central government,” it said.
Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
The city’s Department of Civil Affairs had told the public that it should not worry about the security of the cards because a password is required to view personal data, such as the cardholder’s address and family members’ names, stored on the chip.
The cards would not contain medical data and they would be more difficult to counterfeit than conventional cards, it said.
However, at a news conference yesterday, advocacy groups and opposition councilors urged Hsinchu residents to opt out of the eID trial, which the Ministry of the Interior had planned to begin next month.
The Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Amnesty International Taiwan, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the New Power Party (NPP) and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party were among those that participated.
Hsinchu City Councilor Liao Tzu-chi (廖子齊) of the NPP said that the ministry lacked the legal authority to issue or test the cards, as the legislature did not authorize them through a new law or amendment.
More care should also have been exercised in making the technology more secure, Liao said.
There is no such thing as risk-free information technology and the card should not feature a design that places all of an individual’s information on a single chip, she added.
“As it stands, the Taiwanese government is drawing a huge target over the [eID card] database and inviting attacks by hackers and state-level cyberbrigades,” she said.
The ministry did not clearly inform the public about the eID project or furnish them with a proper overview of the Hsinchu pilot, said Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Shih Yi-hsiang (施逸翔), who is one of 60 plaintiffs suing the government over the cards.
“Given the ministry’s lack of respect for citizens’ autonomy and its lack of legal authority — and especially the information security risks — Hsinchu residents should refuse to be lab rats in the eID trial,” he said.
The Taiwan Statebuilding Party’s Hsinchu chapter said that it would organize street protests.
There are no legally defined penalties for leaking eID data, it added.
“The decision to run the pilot in Hsinchu shows a complete disregard for the data security of the city’s residents,” it said.
In a news release written on behalf of the card’s opponents, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights said that the ministry initially chose Hsinchu, Penghu County and several districts in New Taipei City for the pilot, but that all of the jurisdictions except Hsinchu declined.
Later yesterday, the ministry said that the eID program is a key policy of the Executive Yuan and that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has promised the Legislative Yuan that the program would only go forward after cybersecurity concerns have been fully resolved.
Additional reporting by Huang Hsin-po
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
RSS