Apple Daily (Taiwan) has been warned that it must not transfer personal data to a third party without legal authorization, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement yesterday, adding that the newspaper is required to submit a detailed plan on how it plans to handle the data within 10 days.
The sale of the Chinese-language online newspaper came under close scrutiny after Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) accused the newspaper’s new owner, Singaporean Joseph Phua (潘杰賢), of accepting funding from China and intending to use archived data from Apple Daily (Taiwan) for purposes unrelated to running a news Web site, which would potentially also contravene the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
Lai in June reported the case to the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
The sale involves various issues, such as freedom of the press, national security, personal data protection and workers’ benefits, the ministry said, adding that it on Wednesday sent a letter to Apple Daily (Taiwan) to remind its management that the way they collect, handle and use personal data should be in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act and other relevant regulations.
The act would protect most of the data possessed by the Apple Daily (Taiwan), including information about the newspaper’s employees, advertisers, freelance writers, and print and online content subscribers, the ministry said.
Material by which personal information could be directly or indirectly identified is also protected by the act, such as annual tax reports and news material that has not been published, it said.
“We are asking the newspaper to stipulate a detailed plan to ensure the security of personal data in its possession. The plan should also detail how personal data would be disposed of after the business is closed. Such a plan should be delivered to the Ministry of Culture within 10 days,” the ministry said.
Personal data must not be transferred to a third party without legal authorization, it said.
If a new company or platform is created following the change in ownership, the new management must not use the database if its use contravenes the act, it added.
Apple Daily (Taiwan) on Wednesday said in a statement that the personal data of employees and subscribers, as well as published and unpublished material, would be destroyed after being archived for a number of years.
The Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) states that information about current and former employees must stay in archives for five to seven years before being destroyed, while the Business Entity Accounting Act (商業會計法) stipulates that financial statements, tax reports and other related documents must be held for five to 10 years, the statement said.
Subscribers’ information would be retained, as some have yet to cancel their subscription and request a refund, it said.
“We will also comply with the Article 21 of the Enforcement Rules of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法施行細則) and archive published and unpublished material,” the newspaper said.
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS