Vietnam: Closed consultation on Draft Proposal for the Development of Personal Data Protection Law

On 31 March 2024, the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam closed its public consultation on the Draft Proposal for the Development of a Personal Data Protection Law, consisting of two drafts. The first draft highlights the growing vulnerability of personal data and underscores the necessity for coordinated efforts among different entities, in the form of a singular agency, to combat cyber threats effectively. Moreover, it identifies limits in the existing legal frameworks, such as the Constitution and Decree No. 13/2023/ND-CP on Personal Data Protection (PDPD), and international standards, such as the GDPR, and advocates for the creation of a new law to address these issues. Furthermore, the second draft underscores the need for a Law on Personal Data Protection to establish principles for data protection, regulations regarding consent, procedures for assessing the impact of data processing and international transfers, measures to ensure data security, and the creation of specialised agencies and a National Information Portal dedicated to data protection. Finally, the report highlights that the current PDPD is only a decree, necessitating a formal law to ensure consistent implementation of data protection provisions and to resolve potential conflicts with other legislation.