DECLASSIFIED: The draft proposes that all pseudonyms and concealed names be made available, except for information that might infringe on a person’s privacy

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 03, 2018
By: Chen Mei-ying  /  Staff reporter

The National Development Council has finalized a draft bill for a political data act (政治檔案條例), proposing the disclosure of the identities of people involved in historical events and the declassification of all political files dating back 30 years or more, provided they do not compromise national security.

Whether the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法) should be enforced has been a source of contention in discussions about the proposed political data act, with veteran political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) saying that perpetrators of political events have largely been shielded by the nation’s current policy on declassifying political files.

National Archives Administration officials have reached a consensus on maximizing transparency by allowing the declassification of political files to bypass the Personal Information Protection Act if parties directly concerned with a historical event request that files be made public, administration deputy director-general Chen Hai-hsiung (陳海雄) said.

To aid efforts to establish historical facts, the draft bill proposes that all codes, pseudonyms given to public officers, witnesses and whistle-blowers, as well as all names concealed in files, be made available, with the exception of information that may infringe on their privacy, such as their health, which could be filtered out before they are duplicated for other uses, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]