Strict sanctions are needed to prevent the formation of a "black market" for personal data.

On the morning of May 24, during a discussion session on the draft Law on Personal Data Protection, many opinions from National Assembly deputies emphasized that the phenomenon of personal data leakage is becoming increasingly common and sophisticated. From seemingly harmless information such as phone numbers, email addresses, to information about bank accounts, medical records... can all be collected, bought, sold, and used illegally.

As a result, online fraud has exploded, causing social instability and affecting people's trust. Therefore, it is urgent for the National Assembly to consider and promulgate this law to overcome legal gaps, enhance the effectiveness of state management, protect human rights in the digital space and promote the development of the digital economy in a safe and sustainable manner.

Contributing ideas to continue perfecting the draft Law, delegate Hoang Minh Hieu (Nghe An Delegation) said that distinguishing between basic personal data and sensitive personal data is extremely necessary because sensitive data requires stricter management measures. However, the draft Law currently assigns the Government to list both categories of two types of data, which the delegate said is inappropriate. “I propose that only the category of sensitive personal data should be regulated. Such regulation will ensure scientific , comprehensive, and easy application,” the delegate said.

Agreeing with the prohibition of illegal trading of personal data, however, delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga (Hai Duong Delegation) said that if the regulation is in the direction of absolute prohibition without reasonable exceptions, it will cause difficulties in enforcement, and at the same time, it can eliminate some developing legal digital business models.

Regarding this issue, delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap Delegation) also agreed with the regulation prohibiting the buying and selling of personal data, but according to him, we should only prohibit the buying and selling of personal data that is illegal, unlawful, and not in accordance with the law.

The delegate believes that the buying and selling of personal data for the purpose of socio-economic development, for the purpose of personal privacy, if the data subject agrees and agrees to buy and sell with each other, should also be allowed. “As for my personal data, I see that the provision does not affect national defense and security, and is not sensitive, so the buying and selling should also be allowed,” the delegate stated.

Minister Luong Tam Quang received, explained and clarified the opinions of National Assembly deputies on the Law on Personal Data Protection. (Photo: VNA)

Receiving, explaining and clarifying the opinions of National Assembly delegates, Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang said that personal data with its characteristics is closely linked to humans, human rights, personal rights, and privacy rights, therefore cannot be considered ordinary goods or assets and this is a special type of resource.

“The requirement for exploitation and use must go hand in hand with the highest level of protection. Allowing the buying and selling of personal data is allowing the buying and selling of human rights, the right to dispose of other people's information,” the Minister emphasized.

Citing current reality, Minister Luong Tam Quang said that in large-scale fraud and property appropriation cases that the police force has cracked down on, the main factor that causes criminals to commit crimes is the exposure and sale of personal data. Therefore, the Minister believes that the sale of personal data as a commodity occurs in very large quantities, sold many times to many subjects for analysis, exploitation, construction of fraud scenarios and accurate and easy access to victims.

According to the Minister of Public Security, many organizations currently lack regulations, loose management policies, and decentralize the processing of personal data, leading to employees obtaining customer information with very high accuracy and updating in real time to sell to scammers, especially in the fields of finance, banking, telecommunications, electricity, insurance, etc.

“If there are no regulations prohibiting the buying and selling of personal data as normal goods and strict sanctions, in practice there will be many methods and tricks to form a “black market” for personal data, causing huge damage and insecurity for the people,” the Minister of Public Security emphasized.

According to him, the draft law has been supplemented and revised to regulate the activities of renting and borrowing personal data to commit illegal acts (Clause 5, Article 7), prohibiting the use of other people's personal data, and allowing others to use one's personal data to commit illegal acts./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/can-che-tai-xu-ly-nghiem-minh-khong-de-hinh-thanh-cho-den-ve-du-lieu-ca-nhan-post1040415.vnp