People using computer-generated images, voices and magnetic records to commit fraud could be sentenced up to seven years in prison and fined a maximum of NT$1 million (US$32,462) after the Legislative Yuan yesterday passed a third reading of an amendment to Article 339-4 of the Criminal Code.
The amendment was approved unanimously and is to take effect after it is promulgated by the president.
Currently, Article 339-4 states that people convicted of fraud could be imprisoned between one and seven years if they committed the offense in the name of a government agency or public official without authorization, with three or more people, or by dissemination of false information to the public via radio, television, Internet or other media.
Photo: CNA
They may be fined no more than NT$1 million.
“Images, voices and magnetic records created by computers and artificial intelligence [AI] technologies are easy to disseminate, and it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between real and fake ones. Should scammers take advantage of the technology, the impact on society would be greater compared with other types of fraud. As such, it is necessary to impose heavier punishment on offenses committed through AI or other advanced technologies,” officials said.
Lawmakers also passed a third reading of an amendment to the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法), which imposes tougher sanctions on private corporations that fail to take protective measures, leading to personal data breaches.
The amendment was proposed in view of rising personal data breaches in the private sector and to address issues of oversight over personal data management, the National Development Council (NDC) said.
The amendment was also drafted in compliance with a ruling handed down by the Constitutional Court last year, which tasked the government with establishing an independent oversight agency to be in charge of personal data protection affairs, the council said.
The court also ordered that a separate agency be established to address privacy issues when the government implements the National Human Rights Action Plan.
Once the amendment takes effect, individuals and non-
government organizations that keep personal data and fail to take appropriate security measures, resulting in personal data being stolen, altered, damaged, lost or leaked, would be fined NT$20,000 to NT$2 million and ordered to rectify the situation within a designated period.
If no improvement is made or it is a serious data breach, a fine of NT$150,000 to NT$15 million would be imposed.
They would be subject to punishment until the situation is rectified.
The amendment to the Personal Data Protection Act is part of the bills that the government would use to crack down on fraud, along with amendments to the Criminal Code, the Human Traffic Prevention Act (人口販運防制法), the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Act (證券投資信託及顧問法).
NDC Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) earlier this month said that a preparatory office of the Personal Data Protection Committee is to be established in August.
However, the committee’s organic act has to be reviewed and passed by the legislature before it could begin operations, he said.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
African swine fever was confirmed at a pig farm in Taichung, the Ministry of Agriculture said today, prompting a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs, and marking the loss of Taiwan’s status as the only Asian nation free of all three major swine diseases. The ministry held a news conference today confirming that the virus was detected at a farm in Wuci District (梧棲) yesterday evening. Authorities preemptively culled 195 pigs at the farm at about 3am and disinfected the entire site to prevent the disease from spreading, the ministry said. Authorities also set up a 3km-radius control zone
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
RSS