A meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee was the scene of heated debate yesterday as legislators argued over whether elected representatives should be able to obtain an individual’s personal information without first informing them.
The legislature is reviewing a draft proposal to amend the Computer-Processed Personal Data Protection Act (電腦處理個人資料保護法).
The amendment seeks to add a clause that allows elected representatives to gather personal information for investigation without the knowledge of the person concerned.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) expressed strong opposition to the proposed amendment.
“This is a Chiu Yi [邱毅] clause,” he said, suggesting that the clause was especially written for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator so he could legally look into personal data and records of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
“I’ve heard that the Ministry of Justice and Judicial Yuan all support [the amendment]. The DPP opposes this,” Gao said.
Several other members of the DPP also opposed the proposal, saying that the clause would seriously damage an individual’s right to privacy.
Defending his proposal, KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said that elected representatives have the right and responsibility to protect citizens from corruption.
“I strongly believe that [elected representatives] should not be required to inform the individual who is being investigated, because if I’m in the middle of trying to expose corruption, and I’m required to inform [the person] first, then I would have no corruption to expose,” he said.
“However, if I make a mistake in accusing [someone] of corruption, I would be held legally responsible,” he said.
Hsieh accused the media of misinterpreting the proposal and emphasized that an elected representative would be legally and morally responsible for his or her actions.
Asked for comment, Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) said, “We would have to thoroughly examine this proposal.”
Wang said it was important to strike a balance between an elected representative’s right to keep government officials in check and preserving an individual’s right to privacy.
The meeting ended without consensus.
At a separate setting, DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) said yesterday that the party was opposed to the measure as it would violate human rights.
“The measure could be used as a tool to attack political rivals during campaigns and for collecting information on voters in order to win their votes,” Lee said.
He said that while it has been common for legislators to try to stir up scandals without any solid evidence, the measure could make things worse.
DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said the law was meant to protect personal information from being leaked and that giving privileged individuals the right to access such information would be against the spirit of the law.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS