Taiwanese government accuses Apple, Samsung, others of violating privacy laws
Taiwan's National Communications Commission said on Thursday that it has found 12 of the world's largest mobile phone manufacturers, including Apple, to be in contravention of the country's Personal Information Protection Act which governs the "collection, processing and use of personal information."
A National Communications Commission office in Taipei. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
The National Communications Commission -- which is roughly equivalent to the FCC in the U.S. -- did not reveal details of the violations, but they are likely to be closely related to cloud services offered by the companies. The NCC uncovered the problems while investigating allegations that Chinese brand Xiaomi collected and transmitted user data without authorization, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In addition to Xiaomi, Apple, Samsung, HTC, and Sony, among others, are all said to be in violation of the law.
"The key issue is that companies have to tell consumers if they are collecting their personal data or transferring it elsewhere," NCC spokesman Yu Hsiao-cheng told the publication. "Our law is quite strict."
The law in question regulates the information that companies may collect from consumers, and how they are allowed to process that information. It contains a number of potentially problematic provisions, such as a limitation on the transfer of personal information internationally, which could affect companies that do not operate data centers in Taiwan.
Despite their outward appearance, the violations do not appear to be serious. One NCC official told the Journal that the commission would like the companies to resolve the issues on their own, and that a grace period for compliance is likely to be extended.
A National Communications Commission office in Taipei. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
The National Communications Commission -- which is roughly equivalent to the FCC in the U.S. -- did not reveal details of the violations, but they are likely to be closely related to cloud services offered by the companies. The NCC uncovered the problems while investigating allegations that Chinese brand Xiaomi collected and transmitted user data without authorization, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In addition to Xiaomi, Apple, Samsung, HTC, and Sony, among others, are all said to be in violation of the law.
"The key issue is that companies have to tell consumers if they are collecting their personal data or transferring it elsewhere," NCC spokesman Yu Hsiao-cheng told the publication. "Our law is quite strict."
The law in question regulates the information that companies may collect from consumers, and how they are allowed to process that information. It contains a number of potentially problematic provisions, such as a limitation on the transfer of personal information internationally, which could affect companies that do not operate data centers in Taiwan.
Despite their outward appearance, the violations do not appear to be serious. One NCC official told the Journal that the commission would like the companies to resolve the issues on their own, and that a grace period for compliance is likely to be extended.
Comments
Indeed, don't they all do this? I'd rather read an article on Samsung appeal against Apple’s $930M award for patent infringement, which begins today:
http://9to5mac.com/2014/12/04/apple-samsung-patent-trial/
AI could publish an in-depth article: the chances for a win for Apple, and how similar lawsuits have played out in the past.
So companies can continue with their current practices if the open up shop in Taiwan? If there's one thing in life I don't understand it's probably the law. It is so..Barbarella-esque.
The ruling party KMT just had a landslide defeat in an election last week and recent food safety scandals.. This is just a show that the NCC is doing "something" to protect consumers.
The comment thread on 9to5Mac related to that article filled up with Scamdung trolls like I haven't seen in a while... Guess Scamdung is paying their trolls OT just as this begins to try and shine a bad light on Apple...
Tells me about it. The comments on that site are in stark contrast on the more intelligent comments posted here. Personally I'd read the articles over there as they're way faster published than on this site but I'd like to come here to read everyone's take on a subject, usually a few hours or a day afterwards. That's not to say the articles here are poorly written, they're just very late.