An officer at Huaping (華平) police station of the Tainan Police Department’s 4th Precinct has been given two minor demerits for accessing the personal information of 25 baseball cheerleaders.
The officer surnamed Liu (劉) accessed the household registration system with a computer at the station three times between April and last month to check photographs of the cheerleaders on their national identification cards, the precinct said on Sunday following an investigation.
Liu was suspended from accessing the system for three months and the chief of the police station, surnamed Shih (施), was given a warning for insufficient oversight, it said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The case came to light when a person on Saturday in a post on Facebook claimed that a police officer in Tainan had accessed the photographs of baseball cheerleaders, but had seemed not have been punished, questioning whether the incident had been covered up.
The precinct on Sunday said that during an investigation it found several unusual entries in Liu’s computer search history.
Liu, who is in his 20s and worked at the station for nearly six months, told investigators that he looked up photographs of the cheerleaders of the CTBC Brothers and Rakuten Monkeys during working hours out of curiosity, it said.
He said that he did not forward or sell the photographs to others and showed regret for his behavior, the precinct said.
The precinct said that it had found no evidence of him leaking confidential information.
Police often access people’s personal information such as ownership of vehicles and contact information. To prevent officers from abusing the authority, the National Police Agency has implemented an information security audit.
A chief inspector, who wished to remain anonymous, said that when computers were first introduced to the police force, many of his colleagues would look up celebrities and gossip about them, which showed a lack of awareness of information security and the protection of personal information.
For instance, when then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) was caught having an extramarital affair in 2009, more than 60 officers nationwide were found to have accessed the personal information of his mistress, drawing fierce criticism, the chief inspector said.
The National Police Agency in 2008 and 2009 introduced regulations on information security and police computers, with ethics and supervision units carrying out information security audits.
The Tainan City Police Department on Sunday said that its information security team checks all units of the department at least once a month and reviews search histories.
All officers have their own account and password to access the system, so “everything searched leaves traces,” a police chief said.
Additional reporting by Wang Kuan-jen
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
RSS