Allegations the police would triangulate and track the mobile phones of protesters are false, National Police Agency Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) told the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee yesterday.
Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) also told the committee that she was unaware if anyone was handling or obtaining such information at the ministry.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Chih-lun (張智倫) asked about Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Policy Committee director-general Wang Yi-chuan’s (王義川) comments on a political talk show that protesters could be located based on their phone signals and such information could be used to analyze the ages of those protesting outside the Legislative Yuan.
Photo: Tu Chien-fa, Taipei Times
Wang on a SET News TV show added that the people gathered in front of the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday did not overlap with those who participated in the Sunflower movement in 2014.
Chang said that the police would not attempt to track members of the public via phone signals, adding “most certainly not” for emphasis.
Chang said he did not know who would have access to such information.
Liu said she mostly paid attention to how the police maintained law and order during protests, adding that she was also unclear whether anyone was handling or obtaining telecom data at the ministry.
When asked by Chang whether she supported legislative reform, she said she supported such changes as long as they are constitutional.
Separately, National Communications Commission Secretary-General Huang Wen-che (黃文哲) yesterday said that the commission was unclear about the situation or how Wang obtained the data.
The commission said it would launch an investigation into whether the three major telecoms illegally collected and used personal information.
Using geolocation services on phones to estimate the number of attendees at events is a known fact, Huang said, adding that people were more concerned about whether personal information had been leaked.
If the data cited by Wang served only to reference the number of people gathered in an area it would not fall under the jurisdiction of the Personal Data Protection Act (個別資料保護法), he said.
He said the commission would have to investigate the issue to determine whether personal information had been leaked and whether the Personal Data Protection Act had been contravened.
Huang said that the commission had received a complaint regarding the SET News report for failure to verify its sources.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is