The Taipei City Government gave recordings of residents’ helpline calls to a private firm, violating the rights of the callers, two city councilors said yesterday.
Taipei city councilors Miao Po-ya (苗博雅), of the Democratic Progressive Party, and Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶), of the Social Democratic Party, said the recordings were the callers’ voiceprints, and providing them to an artificial intelligence software developer without their permission violated their rights.
The contract that the city had with the company as part of Taipei’s “smart city” development did not outline penalties for mishandling the recordings, the councilors said, as they called on the city government to temporarily halt the project.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
Taipei City Research, Development and Evaluation Commission Director Chen Tsung-heng (陳宗亨) said the city informs callers that it records the call, but does not inform them that the recordings are handed over to a contractor.
How the information is managed was determined after work on the project began and had yet to be reviewed by the Taipei Department of Legal Affairs, he said.
Taipei City Department of Information Technology Director Lu Hsin-ko (呂新科) said the project aimed to improve the service on the helpline, and that the city would re-evaluate its handling of the recordings and consult with experts.
The National Development Council yesterday said that under Article 28 of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法), public agencies that illegally collect, process or use people’s personal information are liable to pay compensation.
Further investigation is needed to determine whether the city government contravened the law, the council added.
Lawyer Lin Yao-chen (林曜辰) said that while the recordings were legally obtained, the city contravened the law by giving people’s personal data to a contractor and would typically be required to compensate people whose calls were mishandled.
However, as the callers’ identities are unknown, it is unlikely that they would be compensated, he added.
Lin urged the city government to amend its procedures to avoid a recurrence of the situation, and to set clear terms in the company’s contract regarding handling the recordings, including penalties for their misuse.
Even if the callers could not be identified, the project should be halted, Miao said, adding that recordings of about 1,400 people had been sent to the contractor.
Additional reporting by Yang Kuo-wen
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
RSS