Articles: TAIWAN

-DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY-

Taiwan’s New Personal Data Protection Act Becomes Effective on October 1, 2012  

Taiwan’s new Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”) has gone into effect as of October 1, 2012, while two controversial articles remain pending. Under this new law, all government, non-government sectors, and individuals will be subject to the PDPA. The definition “Personal Data” is also expanded to a broad scope. The impacts of new PDPA include: (1) all enterprises and individuals that collect, process or use Personal Data are subject to the PDPA; (2) statutory requirements and procedures must be followed when collecting, processing or using Personal Data; (3) proper safety measures must be taken when retaining Personal Data files; (4) failure to comply with the PDPA will be subject to civil liabilities (up to NT$200M), administrative penalties (up to NT$500,000), and criminal liabilities (up to 5 years and/or NT$1M). All enterprises and individuals are advised to take the necessary steps, including amending contracts with related parties and setting up relevant policies and rules in order to comply.