In August 2022, the Government issued Decree 53/2022 to implement various provisions of the Law on Cyber Security 2018 (LCS 2018). We summarise below certain key points of Decree 53/2022:

• Data localization: Decree 53/2022 provides more detailed guidance on data localization in Vietnam. Please see our separate blog on this issue here.

• Using cryptography (“mật mã”) to protect network information: If necessary for the national security, safety and order of society or protecting legitimate rights and benefit of others, the authority could request related individuals/organizations to encrypt information not considered as State secret before storing, transmitting on the Internet;

Introduction

In August 2022, the Government issued Decree 53/2022 providing, among other things, further guidance on data localization requirements in Vietnam. Article 26.3 of the Law on Cyber Security 2018 (LCS 2018) provides for a general data localization requirement. However, due to the lack of implementing regulations, such provision is not enforced in practice for several years. The new guidance under Decree 53/2022 will likely make the law enforceable in practice from 1 October 2022. In this post, we discuss some salient points of the data localization requirements under Decree 53/2022. This post is written by Trinh Phuong Thao and edited by Nguyen Quang Vu.