Chunghwa Telecom Co (
"We have received some phone calls from our users, who worried that their personal confidential data might have been divulged," said Leng Tai-fen (
The state-run telecom operator has been under growing public pressure to compensate consumers after a scandal in which several employees with Chunghwa Telecom allegedly profited from selling people's personal information to organized crime syndicates, according to an investigation conducted by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutor's Office.
To fend off an increasing number of consumer complaints, the Cabinet-level Consumer Protection Commission yesterday morning announced punitive measures and a restitution agreement by Chunghwa Telecom and other telecom service providers if consumers' information was found to have been leaked.
Under the proposal, Chunghwa Telecom would offer consumers the free number-changing program before the prosecutors release the name list of the victims.
Other service providers -- including Taiwan Cellular Corp (台灣大哥大), Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), KG Telecommunications Co (和信電訊), Trans Asia Telecommunications Inc (泛亞電信) and Taichung-based Mobitai Communications Corp (東信電訊) -- agreed that consumers can change their phone numbers and get their monthly basic fees remitted for up to three months if they are identified as identity-theft victims.
Chunghwa Telecom also agreed to write off the victims' call charges for up to three months depending on the degree of the damages caused.
Currently, Article 28 of the Law for the Protection of Computer-managed Personal Information (
The aggregate sum for the compensation is capped at NT$20 million, according to the law.
But the Consumers' Foundation (
At a press conference held late yesterday, the foundation said that each victim should be paid NT$100,000, with no upper limit on the total paid out by each company.
Responding to claims that removing limits on restitution would spell bankruptcy for many companies, the foundation said that it thought bankruptcy would be just punishment.
"Companies that allow their customers' information to be stolen by employees deserve to be eliminated and go bankrupt," foundation secretary-general Cheng Jen-hung (
The government must also increase the transparency of its investigations, the foundation said.
"Government parties are not doing enough. They cannot just try to patch up the situation by claiming that they are working on the situation," said Hsieh Hung-man (
"Up to now, the public still does not know the exact scope of the leakage and has no way of finding out whether or not their own information was compromised. The Consumer Protection Commission needs to re-examine its methodology," he added.
The foundation therefore called on the industry to make public apologies, announce the volume of information leaked and notify compromised customers. It also said the government should release the results of their investigations to the companies.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his