The government is to propose a legislative amendment to impose heavier fines on private companies found guilty of leaking personal data, Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said yesterday.
In addition, the government would establish an “independent watch mechanism” for better protection of personal data, Cheng said at an inauguration ceremony in Taipei for the National Institute of Cyber Security (NICS).
The proposed amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) would increase the fines as soon as possible for personal data leaks by private companies, he said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Article 48 of the act allows for fines of NT$20,000 to NT$200,000 against companies that fail to prevent theft or disclosure of private data that they collect, or allow it to be compromised.
Cheng’s pledge to increase the penalties came one day after iRent, a Taiwanese vehicle-sharing platform, was fined NT$200,000 by the Directorate-General of Highways for leaking the personal data of about 400,000 people.
The Taipei City Government on Thursday issued a NT$90,000 fine to iRent, which is run by Ho Ing Mobility Service (和雲行動服務), a subsidiary of automotive conglomerate Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車).
Cheng said that the highways authority’s fine was “too light,” and that the public and private sectors need to step up their efforts to improve protections of personal data.
At the ceremony, Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) also addressed the data protection issue, saying that the NICS would intervene in data leak incidents in the private sector and help companies tighten their cybersecurity systems.
The NICS, a public body established primarily to improve cybersecurity in Taiwan, would also seek to foster talent in that field, and develop advanced technologies and tools to protect the nation’s digital assets, Tang said.
Headed by Ho Chuan-te (何全德), who was previously in charge of cybersecurity at the Presidential Office, the NISC would play a pivotal role in reinforcing Taiwan’s digital environment, Tang said.
The NICS was set up under the Ministry of Digital Affairs in accordance with the Act for the Establishment of the National Institute of Cyber Security (國家資通安全研究院設置條例), which took effect at the start of this year.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who also attended the ceremony, said the establishment of the NICS was part of the government’s efforts to tackle ever-evolving cybersecurity threats from external forces.
“Information security is national security,” Tsai said, adding that the government needs to continue investing in Taiwan’s cybersecurity infrastructure.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS