《TAIPEI TIMES》 Personal data protection office to become an agency

OVERSIGHT: After a Constitutional Court ruling to set up an independent body, the Executive Yuan is creating a dedicated agency for personal information protection

By Chung Li-hua and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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The Executive Yuan’s Personal Data Protection Committee Preparatory Office, created to offer protection for personal information and in response to a Constitutional Court ruling, is expected to become an official agency by the end of the month, the Executive Yuan said.

The office is to be chaired by the National Development Council’s special personal data protection office consultant Lee Shih-te （李世德）, and is expected to be staffed initially with 36 employees and later expanded to 89, it said.

The office has been given a budget of NT$118 million （US$3.65 million）, including NT$59.68 million to cover office rent, digital systems establishment and administrative costs, NT$38 million to cover personnel costs and NT$21.12 million to promote personal data protection affairs, it added.

The Legislative Yuan’s amendment of the Personal Data Protection Act （個人資料保護法） last week has seen the inclusion of penalties of a maximum of NT$15 million for non-government bodies that have been found derelict in their duties of protecting their users’ personal data.

The amendment also stated that the personal data protection committee must be the government agency with jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to the Personal Data Protection Act.

The amendment was made in response to Constitutional Court Judgement No. 13 in August last year, which called for the establishment of an independent body for the oversight and protection of personal data protection within three years.

Premier Chen Chien-jen （陳建仁） is expected to lead the official plaque unveiling ceremony, with President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） in attendance as well, the Executive Yuan said.

The committee’s preparatory office is to be comprised of four divisions — general planning, legal affairs, investigation and privacy-related technology — with Lee slated to head the office, it said.

The Executive Yuan added that it has reviewed and approved temporary organic regulations for the office, which would empower the office to begin general planning on the establishment of the committee, draft future organic laws, draft amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act, and start planning how the committee would provide oversight over personal data protection affairs for both government and non-government agencies.

The office is also to begin drafting plans on verifying personal data breach claims, how such claims should be reported, and draft training regiments for employees tasked with protecting personal data, it said.

The office is expected to send delegates to next year’s APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules systems meetings, as well as dispatch members to inspect and learn from personal data protection bodies in South Korea and Japan, it added.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES