Taiwan has joined the EU-led Joint Declaration on Privacy and the Protection of Personal Data, underscoring the government’s commitment to working with like-minded partners to promote trusted global data flows, according to the Cabinet-level National Development Council Oct. 12.

Signed by Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines earlier this month, as well as the EU and countries including Australia, Comoros, India, Japan, Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Sri Lanka in February, the declaration aims to strengthen faith in the digital environment.

According to the EU’s European External Action Service, the declaration is intended to foster international cooperation to promote high data protection and privacy standards based on core elements such as comprehensive legal frameworks; policies covering both the private and public sectors; and key principles like lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimization, limited data retention, data security and accountability.

These are complemented by enforceable rights for individuals encompassing access; rectification; deletion; safeguards on automated decision-making and international transfers; and independent oversight by a dedicated supervisory authority, the EEAS added.

In response, the NDC said Taiwan’s inclusion will allow the country to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with countries and territories in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. The government is committed to promoting a safe and reliable environment in which cross-border data flows are secure while developing the digital economy and safeguarding the rights of the people, it added. (YCH-E)

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