Continuing the 38th Session, on the afternoon of October 14, under the direction of Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft Law on Data.

Decentralization of authority to decide on data transfer abroad

Presenting the report, Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang stated that the development of the Data Law is extremely important, necessary, and urgent to ensure full coverage of the contents and tasks that the Government has identified in the digital transformation work.

The law's development also aims to enhance the effective use of information in databases to serve state management, both exploiting and applying data in socio-economic development, and tightening the management of personal and non-personal data, ensuring information security and safety.

Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang presents a report on the Data Law project. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Regarding the scope of regulation, the Minister said that this Law regulates the construction, development, processing, and management of data; application of science and technology in data processing; National comprehensive database; National data center; data products and services; state management of data; responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals related to data activities.

The Draft Law consists of 7 chapters and 67 articles, including provisions on transferring data abroad to foreign organizations and individuals.

Specifically, Article 25 stipulates that activities of providing and transferring data abroad to foreign organizations and individuals must ensure the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of data subjects, and the protection of security, national defense, national interests, and public interests.

Data classified as core data, important data that needs to be provided, transferred outside the borders of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, to foreign organizations and individuals must be assessed for impact and approved by competent authorities. For personal data, it must comply with the provisions of the law on personal data protection.

Regarding the authority to decide on the provision and transfer of data, the draft Law stipulates that the Prime Minister decides on the provision and transfer of national core data.

View of the meeting. (Photo: DUY LINH)

The Ministry of National Defense shall take the lead in identifying, assessing the impact and deciding on the provision and transfer of important data in the military, defense and cryptographic fields.

The Ministry of Public Security shall preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to conduct an impact assessment of the transfer of important data not under the authority of the Ministry of National Defense. The data owner shall decide on the transfer of important data after the impact assessment has been completed.

Specific regulations on compensation liability when data incidents occur

Through examination, the National Defense and Security Committee found that the draft Law is eligible to be submitted to the National Assembly for comments at the upcoming 8th Session.

Regarding the transfer of data abroad to foreign organizations and individuals, some opinions say that this is new content compared to the policies proposed for law making, but the submission has not clarified the necessity of this regulation. In the context of globalization and strong digital transformation, the increasing cross-border data flow requires a clear legal framework for management.

Regulations on data transfer abroad need to be considered to protect the legitimate rights and interests of people related to the personal data of Vietnamese citizens.

Accordingly, it is necessary to clearly identify the types of important data that are prohibited or restricted from being transferred abroad, regulations on storing copies of important data in Vietnam and retrieving and controlling data once transferred; responsibility for compensation when data incidents occur, regulations on the authority of agencies in deciding on data transfer, and compliance with regulations on data assessment to avoid overlap in management.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong speaks. (Photo: DUY LINH)

The draft also stipulates the construction of a National Data Center, storing synchronized data from national databases, specialized databases and other sources to build a shared data warehouse for agencies and organizations to exploit, use, synthesize, analyze and evaluate to serve the planning of guidelines, policies and socio-economic development.

The review committee basically agrees with the regulations on the National Data Center; when this Center is put into operation, it will be a premise to promote the development process and enhance the exploitation of national databases to serve socio-economic development.

Thereby, contributing to the goal of raising Vietnam's digital economic development strategy to keep up with other countries in the world, ensuring conditions for Vietnam to develop and integrate with the world's digital economy.

There is consensus on the establishment of a National Data Center, however, it is recommended that research be conducted to establish the National Data Center as a unit under the Government to meet the requirements and tasks set forth.

In his concluding remarks, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong stated that the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed with the necessity of promulgating the Data Law and requested the Government to direct the drafting agency to complete the draft law and submit it to the National Assembly for comments at the 8th Session, which will open on the morning of October 21.