Allegations the police would triangulate and track the mobile phones of protesters are false, National Police Agency Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) told the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee yesterday.
Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) also told the committee that she was unaware if anyone was handling or obtaining such information at the ministry.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Chih-lun (張智倫) asked about Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Policy Committee director-general Wang Yi-chuan’s (王義川) comments on a political talk show that protesters could be located based on their phone signals and such information could be used to analyze the ages of those protesting outside the Legislative Yuan.
Photo: Tu Chien-fa, Taipei Times
Wang on a SET News TV show added that the people gathered in front of the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday did not overlap with those who participated in the Sunflower movement in 2014.
Chang said that the police would not attempt to track members of the public via phone signals, adding “most certainly not” for emphasis.
Chang said he did not know who would have access to such information.
Liu said she mostly paid attention to how the police maintained law and order during protests, adding that she was also unclear whether anyone was handling or obtaining telecom data at the ministry.
When asked by Chang whether she supported legislative reform, she said she supported such changes as long as they are constitutional.
Separately, National Communications Commission Secretary-General Huang Wen-che (黃文哲) yesterday said that the commission was unclear about the situation or how Wang obtained the data.
The commission said it would launch an investigation into whether the three major telecoms illegally collected and used personal information.
Using geolocation services on phones to estimate the number of attendees at events is a known fact, Huang said, adding that people were more concerned about whether personal information had been leaked.
If the data cited by Wang served only to reference the number of people gathered in an area it would not fall under the jurisdiction of the Personal Data Protection Act (個別資料保護法), he said.
He said the commission would have to investigate the issue to determine whether personal information had been leaked and whether the Personal Data Protection Act had been contravened.
Huang said that the commission had received a complaint regarding the SET News report for failure to verify its sources.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS