POLICE STATE: Taiwanese who give their biometric data to Chinese authorities would be vulnerable to Beijing’s human rights abuses, a cybersecurity official said
Taipei Times
Date: Aug 20, 2018
By: Chen Yu-fu, Lu Yi-hsuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer
The Chinese government’s new residency permit cards for Taiwanese,
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng speaks at an event on May 31. Photo: Chung Lee-hua, Taipei Times
which are to bear the fingerprints of the cardholder, pose privacy and national security risks, Executive Yuan Department of Cybersecurity Director Jian Hong-wei (簡宏偉) said yesterday.
Jian made the remarks after Chinese authorities earlier in the day published a preview of regulations for issuing residency permit cards for people from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, which are to go into effect on Saturday next week.
The cards would bear the cardholder’s name, date of birth, photograph, fingerprints, address and an 18-digit serial number, employing the same identification system Beijing uses for Chinese nationals, according to the regulations.
“Fingerprints are private biometric data and there is no end to the ways Chinese authorities could use them once they get hold of them,” Jian said. [FULL STORY]
