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Jun 12, 2018 / 12:25

Vietnam parliament approves cybersecurity law

The Law on Cybersecurity has been approved by the National Assembly, with endorsement from 86.86% of its deputies in a voting on June 12 after eleventh hour adjustments.

The Law is expected to take effect on January 1, 2019, stipulating "national security protection activities and the fundamental principles, tasks and measures for assuring social order and safety on cyberspace, and the responsibilities of related agencies, organizations and individuals."
 
Illustration photo.
Illustration photo.
With regard to its governing scope, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly explained the Law's necessity in the context of increasing complications and uncertainties in cyberspace, while providing legal framework for law enforcement in tackling violations. 

"Taking into account technology advancement, national security and social order are closely related and cannot be separated," said the committee.

The Standing Committee also allayed concern over Article 24, which regulates the cybersecurity audit and assessment in respect of information systems of agencies organizations, discarding first paragraph on auditing information systems of agencies and organizations not included in the List of Information Systems Critical to National Security.

Additionally, individuals or organizations are subject to cybersecurity audit and assessment only when a violation in cyberspace is detected or under the request of information system owners. The procedure of cybersecurity audit has also been clarified and specified. 

Regarding Article 26, the Standing Committee had instructed to revise "information provision" to "record information in the system" for the purpose of investigating and tackling illegal activities, ensuring the law's feasibility and preventing law abuses during the process. 

Concurrently, the storage of this type of data in Vietnam is only required for a certain period of time, with the view of reducing expenses for enterprises.