The Taipei City Government gave recordings of residents’ helpline calls to a private firm, violating the rights of the callers, two city councilors said yesterday.
Taipei city councilors Miao Po-ya (苗博雅), of the Democratic Progressive Party, and Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶), of the Social Democratic Party, said the recordings were the callers’ voiceprints, and providing them to an artificial intelligence software developer without their permission violated their rights.
The contract that the city had with the company as part of Taipei’s “smart city” development did not outline penalties for mishandling the recordings, the councilors said, as they called on the city government to temporarily halt the project.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
Taipei City Research, Development and Evaluation Commission Director Chen Tsung-heng (陳宗亨) said the city informs callers that it records the call, but does not inform them that the recordings are handed over to a contractor.
How the information is managed was determined after work on the project began and had yet to be reviewed by the Taipei Department of Legal Affairs, he said.
Taipei City Department of Information Technology Director Lu Hsin-ko (呂新科) said the project aimed to improve the service on the helpline, and that the city would re-evaluate its handling of the recordings and consult with experts.
The National Development Council yesterday said that under Article 28 of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法), public agencies that illegally collect, process or use people’s personal information are liable to pay compensation.
Further investigation is needed to determine whether the city government contravened the law, the council added.
Lawyer Lin Yao-chen (林曜辰) said that while the recordings were legally obtained, the city contravened the law by giving people’s personal data to a contractor and would typically be required to compensate people whose calls were mishandled.
However, as the callers’ identities are unknown, it is unlikely that they would be compensated, he added.
Lin urged the city government to amend its procedures to avoid a recurrence of the situation, and to set clear terms in the company’s contract regarding handling the recordings, including penalties for their misuse.
Even if the callers could not be identified, the project should be halted, Miao said, adding that recordings of about 1,400 people had been sent to the contractor.
Additional reporting by Yang Kuo-wen
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
HAN KUANG: The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers said The armed forces would for the first time test new rules of engagement (ROE) at this month’s annual Han Kuang exercises, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers told a news conference in Taipei. ROE cards would be issued to select combat troops to test their ability to function without tight control, they said. The most recent edition of the rules was published last year, they said. One of the cards’ two templates identifies enemy targets that soldiers