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Ministry plans to tighten personal information law
HEAVIER PUNISHMENT:
The Ministry of Justice has proposed that the prison term for people convicted of selling the information be increased to five years
By Rich Chang
STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, May 29, 2007, Page 2
The Ministry of Justice has proposed an amendment to the law seeking serious punishment for those who sell the personal information of others to private companies.
Minister of Justice Morley Shih (施茂林) said that because personal information had previously been leaked and the use of it abused, the ministry was to review the law in order to sort out the problem.
Shih said that legislators across party lines had agreed that the current law was not strict enough to deter perpetrators.
penalty
The amendment to the Law for the Protection of Computer-managed Personal Information (電腦處理個人資料保護法) would mean that those who profit from collecting, using or selling large amounts of personal information would face a maximum jail sentence of five-years, and would be subject to a maximum fine of NT$5 million (US$150,000).
The current law only stipulates a maximum of two years in jail and a maximum fine of NT$40,000 for perpetrators.
The amendment also states that if public servants are found guilty of committing the crime they would face a higher sentence -- a maximum of seven-and-a-half years in jail.
The ministry also plans to ensure that actions are pursued under criminal law, rather than civil law.
The proposed amendment also states that companies or individuals that collect large numbers of e-mail addresses and sell or use them would also be violating the law.
phone scams
Shih said a number of public sector workers and staff at financial organizations have been selling large amounts of personal information to private companies or to criminal rings for use in telephone fraud schemes.
As an example, Shih said a woman in hospital having a baby was likely to receive mail or e-mail from cake companies advertising their products for a party to celebrate the birth of the child.
Similarly, parents of elementary schoolchildren often receive mail or e-mail from various cram schools, he said.
Shih said that this misuse of personal information has been bothering the public.
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