Activists brand ARC-checking app discriminatory

Taipei Times
Date:  Oct 07, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

A new smartphone app aimed at checking the validity of Alien Resident Cards (ARC)

Taiwan International Workers Association members demonstrate outside the National Immigration Agency in Taipei yesterday.  Photo: Liu Ching-hou, Taipei Times

Taiwan International Workers Association members demonstrate outside the National Immigration Agency in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Liu Ching-hou, Taipei Times

encourages discrimination, Taiwan International Workers Association (TIWA) activists said yesterday during a protest outside the National Immigration Agency (NIA) in Taipei.

Protesters shouted slogans calling for the app to be withdrawn and performed a skit in which a foreign worker was repeatedly “shot” with a cellphone mounted on a scan gun prop.

“This kind of an app treats all foreigners — especially blue-collar foreign employees — as suspects to be monitored,” TIWA member Betty Chen (陳容柔) said.

Chen said that the NIA had taken its executive authority “to the limit” by using a “loophole” in the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法) that allows anyone with a cellphone to become a “big brother.”    [FULL  STORY]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I accept the Privacy Policy

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.