E-signatures of individuals under the Law on E-Transaction 2023

On 22 June 2023, the National Assembly passed a new Law on E-transactions, set to be effect from 1 July 2024 (LET 2023). The LET 2023 introduces significant changes regarding the use of e-signatures by individuals as outlined below:

1)         Restriction on individuals’ right to create and use of their own e-signature

The LET 2023 categorizes e-signatures into three types as below, none of which encompass e-signatures self-generated by individuals:

  • specialized e-signatures (chữ ký điện tử chuyên dùng), which are created and used by organizations for their “own private operations” in accordance with their function and tasks;

  • public digital signature (chữ ký số công cộng), which are used for “public activities” and are secured by an e-certificate confirming the public digital signature issued by a qualified service provider; and

  • specialized digital signature for official use (chữ ký số chuyên dùng công vụ), which are digital signatures used for official activities and are secured by an e-certificate confirming the specialized digital signature for official use issued by a qualified service provider

Unlike the broader definition of e-signatures under the LET 2005, which may cover signatures self-created by individuals, this classification significantly limits individuals' ability to create and use their own e-signatures. Under the LET 2023, individuals may be required to use a public digital signature issued by a third-party service provider in normal e-transactions.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,

Difficulties In Dealing with the Administrative Procedures under Personal Data Protection Decree

Decree 13/2023 on Personal Data Protection (PDPD) has stirred a lot of excitement among legal professionals in Vietnam. Recently, such excitement met with the cold hard realities of the difficulties in fulfilling even the basic administrative procedures under PDPD. In particular, in July 2023, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS)  published the required contents of the file for assessment of the impact of personal data processing and the file for assessment of the impact of offshore transferring personal data. The levels of details and analysis required to prepare these files are very demanding. For example, the MPS require these files to include the following information and documents:

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,

Significant Amendments To Law On E-Transactions In Vietnam

1)         Introduction

On 22 June 2023, the National Assembly issued a new Law on E-transactions, which will take effect from 1 July 2024 (LET 2023). The LET 2023 has the following notable points:

  • Unless otherwise clearly excluded, the LET 2023 applies to e-transactions in all areas whether by companies, individuals or Government agencies.

  • A data message converted from paper document or vice versa must have clear marking that it has been converted from paper document and information of the converter.

  • A natural person may not be able to create and use his/her own e-signature and may have to use digital signature for his/her e-transactions.

  • For the first time, trust services are introduced. The service provider must be licensed by the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC).

We discuss below each of these new points and some more. This post is written by Nguyen Quang Vu, Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy, Trinh Phuong Thao and Phan Thi Phuong Mai.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,

Comments on Draft Decree on Cybersecurity Administrative Sanctions

On 31 May 2023, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) released the 3rd draft of the Decree on Cybersecurity Administrative Sanctions (3rd Draft Decree). The 3rd Draft Decree provides administrative penalties on violations of cybersecurity laws (i.e., Law on Cybersecurity 2018, Decree 53/2022 detailing the Law on Cybersecurity 2018) and personal data regulations (i.e., Decree 13/2023 on personal data protection). In this post, we provide comments and respective recommendations of several provisions under the 3rd Draft Decree. This post is written by Trinh Phuong Thao and edited by Nguyen Quang Vu.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In