In a move to further tighten already strict laws surrounding data and cybersecurity, Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications issued a new decree, asking local and foreign tech firms to store users’ data onshore by setting up local offices and collaborating with local entities.
The decree translated by Reuters reads, “Data of all internet users ranging from financial records and biometric data to information on peoples’ ethnicity and political views, or any data created by users while surfing the internet must be stored domestically.” The decree will take effect from October 1.
Whether Telecom, e-commerce, money transfer, social media or even online video gaming and calling services providers, the decree covers a wide range of entities. The foreign corporations, however, have 12 months to comply with government demand of setting up local data storage offices and storing data for a minimum of 24 months. Otherwise, the state will be in full swing against them. Throughout this period, the cabinet has the power to check anything at any time to ensure whether orders are being strictly adhered to.
The country’s communist government will have the full-fledged right to ask companies for users’ data, irrespective of its confidentiality, for inquiry or investigation purposes. Service providers can be forced to remove the content if it contravenes the official guidelines of the state.
It is one of the significant cybersecurity, or as some may call it censorship, measures taken by Vietnam’s current regime, which is often considered intolerant against those disagreeing with the state policies, after the tabling of a cybersecurity bill in 2019.
Vietnam is a commercial hub for tech organisations. Though Google and Meta do not have a physical presence there amid strict censorship of online content, both companies generate considerable revenue from this Southeast Asian economy. According to some reports, talks are underway between Apple suppliers Luxshare Precision Industry and Foxconn Technology Group, an electronics manufacturer, to produce Apple Watches and MacBooks in Taiwan, a move seen as diversifying production lines from China.
