The Legislative Yuan’s Internal Affairs Committee yesterday resolved to freeze NT$400 million (US$13.9 million) of the Ministry of the Interior’s budget for the issuance of new electronic identification cards (eIDs).
During the meeting, several legislators issued proposals to freeze a portion of the ministry’s budget for the eIDs, ranging from 10 to 50 percent. The ministry had initially budgeted NT$867.96 million for the cards.
“Since 2012 there have been information security concerns over plans for an electronic ID. These concerns are important. Once electronic ID cards are issued, there is no going back,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said, proposing that the committee first freeze half of the budget for the eIDs pending a detailed report on the cards.
DPP Legislator Huang Shih-chieh (黃世杰) said that issues related to information security handled by the Executive Yuan’s Department of Cyber Security would eventually become the responsibility of the planned Ministry of Digital Development.
The government should wait until this transition is enacted, rather than leave it to the Ministry of the Interior or the Department of Household Registration to deal with eID-related information security issues, he said.
“Legislators in every party have doubts about the new eIDs, and funds budgeted for the cards this year were frozen and never released. The ministry needs to present the committee with a detailed report for its approval,” DPP Legislator Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) said.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
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Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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