Lawmakers yesterday called for the creation of an independent agency to protect personal data in the wake of a series of large-scale data leaks.
National Development Council Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey (高仙桂) vowed to submit a report on preparations related to the issue within a month.
The council has already drawn up a framework based on international examples, but it requires careful debate as it involves labor and budget considerations, she said.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
The call comes after the operator of vehicle-sharing service iRent last week announced that the data of about 140,000 customers had been jeopardized over three months.
It also follows reports in the past few months of a China Airlines data leak, as well as leaks of National Health Insurance, intelligence and household registration data.
Democratic Progressive Party legislators yesterday held another in a series of news conferences at the Legislative Yuan urging immediate action on the issue.
The greatest problem is the dispersal of responsibility under the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法), Legislator Lai Pin-yu (賴品妤) said.
With different agencies responsible for supervising different aspects of data security, they have ended up “passing the buck,” Lai said.
The government should create an independent unit responsible for protecting data security, rather than treating each case independently, she said.
Laws governing data security clearly need revision, she said, adding that the council should consult other countries’ laws and investigate the necessity of data collection by companies for research.
Legislator Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said data leaks were a “hotbed” for fraud.
From 2021 to last year, reports of fraud stemming from online bookstores rose four-fold from 940 to 3,773, Liu said, citing Criminal Investigation Bureau data.
Investment and installment payment fraud also rose 17.84 percent in the first 10 months of last year, she said.
As private companies are not included in the Cyber Security Management Act (資通安全管理法), most are handled using the personal data act, which designates authorities that are unable to effectively supervise cybersecurity or respond after a breach, Liu said.
The Constitutional Court last year ordered the government to improve data security within three years, saying it “might be unconstitutional” to lack an independent oversight mechanism, Legislator Hung Shen-han (洪申翰) said.
However, there have been no amendments or timelines proposed since the order was issued in August, he said.
No one has assumed responsibility, nor has anyone been notified by a government agency when their data has been leaked, he added.
Issuing fines after the fact is not enough, Legislator Chuang Ching-cheng (莊競程) said over a video call.
The personal data act instructs businesses to inform affected people directly in the event of a leak to minimize its effect, but most users have no way of knowing if their data has been compromised, he said.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS