Lawmakers from across party lines warned the Ministry of Justice that its failure to implement the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法) two years after it was amended amounted to contempt of the legislature and that it could put personal information protection in jeopardy.
The Executive Yuan’s failure to implement the act two years after it was amended in April 2010 was “unforgivable,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Shei-saint (陳學聖) told a press conference.
The press conference was held jointly with legislators Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Thomas Lee (李桐豪) of the People First Party (PFP).
The lawmakers and Taiwan Association of Human Rights president Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said they were concerned that personal information would be resold or illegally copied during the interregnum period.
For example, Lai said, the clause which prohibits the collection of electronic personal information by non-governmental organizations without prior registration and declaration to responsible government agencies has been deleted in the amended act.
Vice Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said there would be no interregnum period, since the old act is still valid until the amendment is implemented.
Chen said the amendment has not been implemented because the ministry considers several clauses to be difficult to execute, which is why it has proposed a two-stage implementation.
Part of the act would come into force on Oct. 1, he said, while the controversial clauses would require a further amendment.
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