July 2018
A district prosecutors office may collect and process personal information for case investigation, which is part of performance of its statutory duties; and a school's provision of required personal information to assist with criminal investigation by a prosecution agency falls within the scope of necessity for furthering public interest (Taiwan)
2018.5.15
Jonathan Chao
The Ministry of Justice issued the Fa-Lu-10703506760 Circular of May 15, 2018 (hereinafter, the "Circular") to communicate that a district prosecutors office may collect and process personal information for case investigation, which is part of performance of statutory duties; and a school's provision of required personal information to assist with criminal investigation by a prosecution agency falls within the scope of necessity for furthering public interest.
Article 15 of the Personal Information Protection Act (hereinafter, the "PIPA") provides: "Except for the data set forth in Paragraph 1 of Article 6, a public agency shall not collect or process personal data unless there is a specific purpose and shall comply with one of the following conditions: (1) it is within a scope necessary to perform a statutory duty..." A prosecution agency's collection of relevant personal data for specific criminal investigation purposes (specific purpose code 014) and out of the need to perform its statutory duties under Article 60 of the Court Organic Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure meets the requirements under Article 15 of the PIPA.
This Circular further points out that if a district prosecutors office does so for the purpose of case investigation, this pertains to the performance of statutory duties. In addition, if an official document has indicated the case number, the necessary scope of collection and the fact that "there is no way to obtain information about card holders other than through the School," this meets the requirement under Article 15, Subparagraph 1 of the PIPA, and personal data collection and processing may be conducted.
Article 20 of the PIPA provides: "Except for the data set forth in Paragraph 1 of Article 6, the non-public agency should use the personal data within the necessary scope of the specific purpose of collection, provided, however, that the data may be used outside the scope of the specific purpose upon the occurrence of any of the following conditions: ...(2) it is necessary to further public interest..." The personal data of students held by a school are collected for purposes of "administration of education and training" and "management of the data of students (including graduates)." If such data are provided to a prosecution agency for the sake of investigation, this is a type of use beyond the scope of the specific purpose. In addition, a prosecution agency investigates and prosecutes crime on behalf of the state in order to safeguard the social order and public interest under legal protection (see Article 86 of the Judges Act). If a school is the only non-public agency that maintains critical leads for such investigation, such leads are otherwise unavailable to the prosecution agency. Therefore, the school's provision of the required personal data about individuals to assist with criminal investigation by a prosecution agency certainly meets the requirement that "it is necessary to further public interest" under Article 20, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the PIPA. As for the scope of provision, this should be determined by the scope of necessity for case investigation by a prosecution agency.
Jonathan Chao
The Ministry of Justice issued the Fa-Lu-10703506760 Circular of May 15, 2018 (hereinafter, the "Circular") to communicate that a district prosecutors office may collect and process personal information for case investigation, which is part of performance of statutory duties; and a school's provision of required personal information to assist with criminal investigation by a prosecution agency falls within the scope of necessity for furthering public interest.
Article 15 of the Personal Information Protection Act (hereinafter, the "PIPA") provides: "Except for the data set forth in Paragraph 1 of Article 6, a public agency shall not collect or process personal data unless there is a specific purpose and shall comply with one of the following conditions: (1) it is within a scope necessary to perform a statutory duty..." A prosecution agency's collection of relevant personal data for specific criminal investigation purposes (specific purpose code 014) and out of the need to perform its statutory duties under Article 60 of the Court Organic Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure meets the requirements under Article 15 of the PIPA.
This Circular further points out that if a district prosecutors office does so for the purpose of case investigation, this pertains to the performance of statutory duties. In addition, if an official document has indicated the case number, the necessary scope of collection and the fact that "there is no way to obtain information about card holders other than through the School," this meets the requirement under Article 15, Subparagraph 1 of the PIPA, and personal data collection and processing may be conducted.
Article 20 of the PIPA provides: "Except for the data set forth in Paragraph 1 of Article 6, the non-public agency should use the personal data within the necessary scope of the specific purpose of collection, provided, however, that the data may be used outside the scope of the specific purpose upon the occurrence of any of the following conditions: ...(2) it is necessary to further public interest..." The personal data of students held by a school are collected for purposes of "administration of education and training" and "management of the data of students (including graduates)." If such data are provided to a prosecution agency for the sake of investigation, this is a type of use beyond the scope of the specific purpose. In addition, a prosecution agency investigates and prosecutes crime on behalf of the state in order to safeguard the social order and public interest under legal protection (see Article 86 of the Judges Act). If a school is the only non-public agency that maintains critical leads for such investigation, such leads are otherwise unavailable to the prosecution agency. Therefore, the school's provision of the required personal data about individuals to assist with criminal investigation by a prosecution agency certainly meets the requirement that "it is necessary to further public interest" under Article 20, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the PIPA. As for the scope of provision, this should be determined by the scope of necessity for case investigation by a prosecution agency.
