After the official issuance of Decree No. 13/2023/ND-CP on personal data protection on 17 April 2023 and Decree No. 53/2022/ND-CP guiding the Cybersecurity Law on 15 August 2022, the Cybersecurity Administrative Sanctions Decree (CASD) is expected to be the final piece of the puzzle to enforce the said Decrees and to form a comprehensive set of laws on cybersecurity in Vietnam.
For that reason, the first draft of the CASD for public consultation in September 2021, following by workshop organized in 2022 by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) in Hanoi to collect public opinions on the second version of the CASD where repeated offenders are subject to a monetary fine of up to 5% of such offender’s annual revenue.
Recently, on 31 May 2023, the MPS released the third draft of the CASD for consultations. The notable issues of the newly released draft of the CASD are as follows:
The latest draft of the CASD provides that its scope of application will cover both domestic and foreign entities, including foreign entities providing telecommunications, internet, content services on the internet, IT, cybersecurity, and cybersecurity information services (as well as their lawful legal presence in Vietnam).
Regarding the monetary penalties, the fine of up to 5% of the offender’s total revenue is applicable in the following circumstances:
(i) Repeated violations regarding personal data protection when providing marketing and advertising services under certain cases;
(ii) Repeated violations in case of enterprises/individuals (a) failing to apply proper measures to protect personal data to prevent the unauthorized collection of personal data from their systems, equipment, and services; (b) implementing transfer of personal data that is not permitted by law or is contrary to the principles of personal data protection; (c) illegally buying and selling personal data.
(iii) Illegal acts of disclosing and/or losing the personal data of 5 million Vietnamese citizens or more.
(iv) Illegal acts of transferring the personal data of 5 million Vietnamese citizens or more overseas.
While the deadline for submission of consultations to the MPS on the latest draft CASD is 20 June 2023. The CASD might be officially issued on 1 December 2023.
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Please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Oliver Massmann under [email protected] if you have any questions or want to know more details on the above. Dr. Oliver Massmann is the General Director of Duane Morris Vietnam LLC.