WATCH LIST: Proposed legislation would give authorities too much power to secretly monitor people suspected of being implicated in a crime, Legislator Cheng Li-wun said

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 12, 2020
By Huang Ching-chun, Chen yun and
Dennis Xie / Staff reporters, with staff writer

A proposal by the Ministry of Justice that would allow authorities to obtain data from a suspect’s electronic devices and use GPS or aerial cameras to track their location is an infringement of a person’s right to privacy, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators said yesterday.

The proposed act would make for controversial law enforcement practices, including wiretapping, using GPS to track a person’s location, and surveillance of use of mobile phones and messaging apps, KMT Legislator Lee Guei-min (李貴敏) said.

The Democratic Progressive Party has repeatedly accused China of human rights breaches, but it is doing the same thing, Lee said.

The ministry presented the proposal on Wednesday, which would authorize official investigators to hack into a suspect’s mobile phone, tablet or computer to obtain evidence.
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