The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday accused banks of infringing on client privacy by selling their personal information to advertising companies and called for the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to investigate.
The commission should launch a special investigation into banks’ handling of client data and brief the Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee within three months, lawmakers said.
They also demanded that the commission review regulations on handling personal information and punish financial institutions that have flouted the law.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
Tseng alleged that financial institutions have not observed Article 10 of the Financial Consumer Protection Act (金融消費者保護法) or Article 42 of the Regulations Governing Institutions Engaging in Credit Card Business (信用卡業務機構管理辦法) by seeking the consent of their clients.
Article 10 of the act states: “An entity as referred to in the preceding paragraph that engages in the collection, processing and use of personal information shall fully explain to the financial consumer his or her rights regarding the protection of personal information and the possible negative consequences of any refusal to provide consent.”
Item 3 of Article 42 of the regulation states: “Where the card issuer’s collaboration with a third party will involve the use of the cardholder’s information by the third party, the card issuer shall design a field in the section for the applicant to check whether they consent to the use of personal information by such third party and specify the purposes of use.”
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Hsieh Yi-feng (謝衣鳳) said whether banks observe their duty of informing clients of any changes in such contracts is often questioned.
Many banks are unilaterally changing the wording on credit card contracts without telling cardholders, but banks cannot simply assume that when the client has not responded that they have “agreed” to the changes, Hsieh said.
Hsieh said the Legislative Yuan brought the issue to the attention of FSC Commissioner Huang Tien-mu (黃天牧) early this month, but the commission has yet to propose methods to protect clients’ personal information better.
KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said the public is all too familiar with SMS messages urging the recipient to contact financial specialists or receiving calls from banks about their loan programs, adding that the government has failed to act meaningfully against such acts.
Fai suggested that the FSC and the Ministry of Financial Affairs implement stricter regulations on financial bodies while urging the Ministry of the Interior to work with the Ministry of Digital Affairs to better safeguard citizens’ personal information.
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