People using computer-generated images, voices and magnetic records to commit fraud could be sentenced up to seven years in prison and fined a maximum of NT$1 million (US$32,462) after the Legislative Yuan yesterday passed a third reading of an amendment to Article 339-4 of the Criminal Code.
The amendment was approved unanimously and is to take effect after it is promulgated by the president.
Currently, Article 339-4 states that people convicted of fraud could be imprisoned between one and seven years if they committed the offense in the name of a government agency or public official without authorization, with three or more people, or by dissemination of false information to the public via radio, television, Internet or other media.
Photo: CNA
They may be fined no more than NT$1 million.
“Images, voices and magnetic records created by computers and artificial intelligence [AI] technologies are easy to disseminate, and it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between real and fake ones. Should scammers take advantage of the technology, the impact on society would be greater compared with other types of fraud. As such, it is necessary to impose heavier punishment on offenses committed through AI or other advanced technologies,” officials said.
Lawmakers also passed a third reading of an amendment to the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法), which imposes tougher sanctions on private corporations that fail to take protective measures, leading to personal data breaches.
The amendment was proposed in view of rising personal data breaches in the private sector and to address issues of oversight over personal data management, the National Development Council (NDC) said.
The amendment was also drafted in compliance with a ruling handed down by the Constitutional Court last year, which tasked the government with establishing an independent oversight agency to be in charge of personal data protection affairs, the council said.
The court also ordered that a separate agency be established to address privacy issues when the government implements the National Human Rights Action Plan.
Once the amendment takes effect, individuals and non-
government organizations that keep personal data and fail to take appropriate security measures, resulting in personal data being stolen, altered, damaged, lost or leaked, would be fined NT$20,000 to NT$2 million and ordered to rectify the situation within a designated period.
If no improvement is made or it is a serious data breach, a fine of NT$150,000 to NT$15 million would be imposed.
They would be subject to punishment until the situation is rectified.
The amendment to the Personal Data Protection Act is part of the bills that the government would use to crack down on fraud, along with amendments to the Criminal Code, the Human Traffic Prevention Act (人口販運防制法), the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Act (證券投資信託及顧問法).
NDC Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) earlier this month said that a preparatory office of the Personal Data Protection Committee is to be established in August.
However, the committee’s organic act has to be reviewed and passed by the legislature before it could begin operations, he said.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said yesterday. When Philippine forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島) on Saturday due to bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help, but later saw that the ship had been extricated, Philippine navy regional spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among
RSS