The Taipei City Government admitted yesterday that personal information relating to former Taipei City mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilors Lee Chien-chang (李建昌) and Huang Hsiang-chun (黃向群) yesterday condemned Taipei City's Department of Civil Affairs and the Department of Information Technology for posting detailed personal records of mayoral and city councilor candidates on the city government's Web page during the 2002 elections.
Doing so increased the threat of identity fraud and violated the Computer-Processed Personal Data Protection Law, they said.
"The leak of personal records shows that the city government was totally ignorant of information safety. How could the citizens protect their own rights if the city government leaked the personal information that it had?" Lee said yesterday at the Taipei City Council.
Lee also cited a recent incident in the UK where the government lost the personal records of 25 million individuals, including their dates of birth, addresses, bank account numbers and national insurance numbers.
Lee demanded that the city government pay more attention to the management and protection of the municipal information database.
Jason Yeh (
"As the Internet was not so advanced at that time, we did fail to place enough emphasis on the protection of personal records," Yeh said.
Feng said the office had already removed the records from its Web page on Thursday and demanded that all municipal agencies immediately examine their Web pages and stored personal records.
The office will finish all inspections by the end of next month to ensure that this kind of incident will not happen again, Feng said.
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