Taiwan

Legislation

  • Computer-Processed Personal Data Protection Act (1995) (CPPDP) - The current major legislation protecting the security and privacy of personal data in Taiwan [there is no official English translation, here is an unofficial one, chinese original]
  • Code: there are certain provisions in the Civil Code and Criminal Code. These provisions are very general. Article 184 of the Civil Code imposes civil liability on persons who “intentionally or negligently wrongfully damaged the rights of another” ; Article 195 of the Civil Code recognizes privacy interests to be protected under Article 184; Article 318-1 of the Criminal Code prohibits “leaking, without a legitimate cause, another’s secrets that are known or held by using computer or other relevant equipments.”
  • Constitution [unofficial translation]
    • the (2000) 10th amendment  (see Article 10 [translation]) together with the 2005 Indigenous People Basic Law relate to the protection and interests of Taiwanese aborigines, and include provisions on academic research.
    • The right to privacy is not one of the listed constitutional rights, however at the Grant Justice Meeting of the Judicial Yuan it was stipulated in Interpretation No. 603 that it should be protected subject to Article 22 of the Constitution.
  • Other Legislation includes an Internal regulation by the Department of Health Guidelines on the Collection and Use of Human Biological Materials for Research (2006) (link to Chinese version). This is not relevant to a purely private party. It addresses collection and use of biological materials rather than specifically targeting personal data, though it unavoidably addresses privacy issues as well.
  • Taiwan Biobank Forum (in Chinese) monitors the continuously changing versions of a draft Taiwan Biobank Management Act, as well as covering relevant activities.

Guidance

  •  The Taiwan Biobank has issued a draft Ethical & Legal Governance Framework

Biobanks

  • There is a Taiwan Biobank Project (link to P3G entry) based at Academia Sinica, funded by the Department of Health (Executive Yuan, ROC). The aim is to collect samples, physical measurements and questionnaire data from 200,000 people to study common chronic diseases in Taiwan such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and to understand the interaction between the genes and external risk factors. It has begun, recruiting 1000 individuals by May 2009 [see Iok-sin 2009].
  • The Taiwan Aboriginal Study Project is also based at Academia Sinica, includes collection of blood samples from Aborigines, useful due to the isolation and long histories of Aboriginal societies.

References