Draft New Decree on Personal Data Protection in Vietnam

On 9 February 2021, the Ministry of Public Security issued a draft decree on the protection of personal data (Draft Decree). This decree, once enacted, will be the first comprehensive legislation of Vietnam on personal data. This blog will analyze some key points of the Draft Decree and compare them with the relevant provisions under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This post is written by Nguyen Thu Giang and edited by Nguyen Quang Vu. Please download the pdf version here.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,

Can an Uber driver be regarded as an employee under Vietnamese law?

The UK court has recently considered that an Uber driver is a worker of Uber under UK employment law. In this post, we will consider if similar conclusion could be reached under Vietnamese law using the UK court’s reasoning. Under Labour Code 2019, an employee means a person working for an employer pursuant to an agreement, such person is paid wages and he/she is subjected to management and supervision by the employer. Based on the definition of employee under the Labour Code 2019, it is more likely than not a Uber driver or, since Uber has left Vietnam, a similar “gig” driver could argue that he/she is an employee of the platform owner instead of a third party contractor using the arguments raised by UK court.

The table below provides a more detailed analysis:

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,

Nature of “voucher” business under Vietnamese law

In Vietnam, vouchers are now not only used as a method of promotion, but also as a kind of “product” sold by many e-commerce platforms. In particular, a voucher trader could sell vouchers to its users, which could be used for certain goods or services provided by certain suppliers. The users will then use the voucher to obtain the goods or services from the suppliers usually at a discounted price. As our analysis below will show, the legal nature of voucher business under Vietnamese law is unclear, and therefore business models based on trading of voucher could give rise to certain risks.

Voucher is not a kind of good or service

Although the law is silent on this matter, Vietnam governmental authorities seem to take the view that voucher is neither goods nor service:

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,

Hyperlink cross-references in contracts in Vietnam

It is quite common to cross-refer to a document in a contract by placing an internet hyperlink to such document (e.g., privacy policy or website standard terms). This practice should be valid under Vietnamese law. This is because:

· Under the Civil Code 2015, a contract may have appendices attached to it which provide details on certain term and conditions of the contract. The law does not clearly regulate the form of the appendices of the contract and the word “attached to” has a broad interpretation that may be general enough to cover an internet hyperlink to the main contract.

· Article 119.1 Civil Code 2015 allows a civil transaction by way of electronic means in the form of data messages in accordance with the Law on E-transaction will be deemed to be written transaction. Under the Law on Electronic Transactions 2005, a contract can be presented in the form of data messages and still valid and binding.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,