Need a strong enough personal data protection mechanism in digital space

The National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law on Digital Transformation. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Continuing the 10th Session, on the afternoon of December 1, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law on Digital Transformation. Delegates expressed their high approval of the need to promulgate the Law on Digital Transformation, a draft law of national strategic significance, creating an institutional foundation for the development of digital government, digital economy and digital society.

Strict regulations on people's right to information protection in digital space

One of the contents that received attention and comments from National Assembly delegates was the protection of personal data when participating in digital space and digital environment.

Contributing opinions on the content of digital citizenship rights and responsibility to protect personal data, delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Hai Phong city, said that the draft Law does not clearly stipulate a number of contents related to personal rights when individuals and organizations participate in the digital space such as: the right to control personal data, the right to transfer data between platforms, the responsibility to compensate when the automatic digital system makes the wrong decision; protecting children in the digital environment including classifying content by age.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Hai Phong city. (Photo: DUY LINH)

According to the delegate, with the trend of data-based management, automated systems will increasingly participate in administrative decisions. With current methods of management, collection, exploitation and use of data, there are many potential risks of violating privacy rights, data distortion and data leakage. Therefore, delegate Viet Nga suggested that the draft Law needs to be reviewed and continue to supplement strict and specific regulations on the rights to respect and the right to protect information of people when participating in the digital space.

At the same time, supplement regulations on the mechanism of complaints, compensation, and accountability of State agencies when citizens' right to personal information protection is violated; provide more specific regulations on the content of protecting vulnerable groups, especially children, in the context of increasingly strong digital transformation as today.

Sharing the same view, delegate Pham Trong Nhan (Ho Chi Minh City Delegation) commented that digital citizens and data rights have not yet become a protection mechanism, all digital public services go through personal data but the draft Law only stops at principles. Accordingly, there are no clear regulations on data self-determination, data processing transparency, complaint and compensation mechanisms or privacy standards from design.

“If the law does not create a strong enough protection corridor, people will enter digital transformation with a worrying mindset. A social factor that delegates mentioned is digital transformation but not leaving anyone behind,” the delegate stated.

From the above analysis, delegate Pham Trong Nhan suggested that it is necessary to stipulate a minimum set of tools for digital citizens including electronic identification, digital signature, digital payment account, single public service account and principles of personal data protection according to international standards; assign the Government to popularize digital skills, design public services for easy access for all population groups. At the same time, he recommended that the Government build a set of national digital transformation indicators similar to the EU's Digital Decade 2030 in Chapter VI, because "only when it can be measured can it be managed and only when there is data can decisions be based on evidence, not on emotions".

Delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (Ho Chi Minh City Delegation). (Photo: DUY LINH)

Regarding the responsibility of the owner of the intermediary digital platform economy, delegate Nguyen Tam Hung (Ho Chi Minh City Delegation) pointed out that the draft Law stipulates the obligation to identify information of business users but does not have principles for processing consumer data when applying ranking recommendation algorithms and personalized advertising. Therefore, delegate Hung suggested that the Drafting Committee consider and supplement regulations on algorithmic risk assessment and the obligation to publish algorithmic operating criteria at a necessary level to protect consumers, thereby preventing the risk of distorting competition, manipulating consumer behavior, abusing personal data and spreading intentionally false content.

Creating a unified legal framework for national digital transformation

Speaking to clarify the opinions of the National Assembly deputies, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung stated: Currently, legal regulations on digital transformation are scattered in many laws, lacking a unified framework, lacking common principles, lacking minimum requirements, especially lacking a comprehensive coordination mechanism on a national scale prescribed by law. Therefore, the Law on Digital Transformation was built to create a unified legal framework for national digital transformation, ensuring digital transformation in the right direction, safe and effective, overcoming the situation of digital bases, digital fragmentation, platform division, creating an environment for innovation, promoting digital government, digital economy and digital society.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung spoke to clarify the opinions of National Assembly deputies. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that for the first time, the most important concepts of digital transformation such as: digital transformation, digital infrastructure, digital data, digital platform, digital environment, digital government, digital economy, digital society are officially defined at the legal level. The law also formalizes the promulgation of the National Digital Transformation Program, the National Digital Architecture Framework, the Data Governance Framework, the Digital Capacity Framework, and the National Digital Transformation Measurement Index.

The law also defines digital design and architecture principles, such as prioritizing the use of cloud computing and shared digital platforms; designing, developing and operating digital systems towards data reuse, declaring once as default...

Emphasizing that digital transformation is the foundation for the country to progress rapidly, the Minister of Science and Technology affirmed that the drafting agency will study and absorb as much information as possible to complete the draft Law on Digital Transformation and propose that the National Assembly consider promulgating the Law to create unity in digital transformation in Vietnam.

Strict regulations on people's right to information protection in digital space

Creating a unified legal framework for national digital transformation

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