The Executive Yuan’s decision to implement the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in two stages was unconstitutional and stands in contempt of the Legislative Yuan, academics and civic groups said yesterday.
“The decision has violated the principle of separation of power of the five branches enshrined in the Republic of China Constitution,” Taiwan Democracy Watch (TWDEM) director Hsu Wei-chun (徐偉群) said.
The Cabinet proposed revisions to four articles of the Personal Data Protection Act and decided that the legislation would take effect in two stages.
Photo: CNA
Approved by the legislature in April 2010, the act was promulgated by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). However, it has yet to take effect because of controversies surrounding the revisions of four articles, which the Ministry of Justice has said would be difficult to implement and have not been approved.
Chiu Wen-tsun (邱文聰) of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights said that the Executive Yuan should have demanded a redrafting of the legislation if it thought it was difficult to implement.
The revision to Article 54 suggested removing the requirement that says financial institutions must inform individuals about the personal information they have that individuals have not provided within one year after the act takes effect. The revision stipulated instead that financial institutions would be mandated to inform individuals of the data they possess if they use or process the information.
The Cabinet revised Article 41 of the act by removing criminal penalty for violations of certain articles of the act when the irregularities were not conducted for the purpose of profit.
Chiu said the revised Article 54 makes it too easy for an institution to get by while the Article 41 only punishes the ones who provide or sell personal information, but not the ones who collect and handle information.
An additional clause also allows certain forms of information collection that “promotes public interests,” which would be “a blank check allowing undue data collection,” Chiu said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) and former DPP legislator Huang Shu-ying (黃淑英) both condemned the administration’s “selective implementation of laws,” saying that would be an infringement of the legislative branch.
“If the administrative branch can choose which part of the legislation to implement, then we don’t need a Legislative Yuan at all,” Huang said, adding that allowing the Executive Yuan to do so would “open a Pandora’s box” because every government agency would follow its example and begin to ignore legislation at will.
Chen Wei-lien (陳維練), director of the justice ministry’s Department of Legal Affairs, said the ministry would like to see the entire law implemented.
“However, certain parts of the legislation are vague and difficult to define and therefore hard to implement,” he said.
Chen added that Taiwan could become the country with the strictest laws on personal information protection in the world under the current proposals.
If the definition and regulation was not clear enough, there would be many controversies once the law is implemented, he said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS