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Vietnam: National Data Strategy, Data Law, and Personal Data Protection Law — The start of a comprehensive transformation in data policy landscape in Vietnam

By 4 Mins Read

In brief

The terms “data” and “digital data” have prominently surfaced in the discussions of policymakers and policy advocates. The year 2024 may signify the start of a comprehensive transformation in the data policy landscape in Vietnam, with the proposals of several key laws.

  • On 2 February 2024, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 142/QD-TTg approving the National Data Strategy towards 2030 (“Strategy”). The Strategy marks a significant advancement in transforming Vietnam into a digital nation, where data can be utilized to its full potential to drive economic growth and social progress. The Strategy is the first comprehensive directive document regarding digital data in Vietnam, clearly elaborating on the policy implications of the data management framework.

The Strategy sets out numerous critical national missions to achieve its objective, several of which are notable legislative initiatives. These encompass the formulation of the Law on the Digital Technology Industry to regulate data as a lawful property right and the formulation of the Decree regulating the purchase, sale, and exchange of private and copyrighted data to establish a data market, among others. The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) is assigned as the lead drafting agency for such digital data-related regulations, with a particular focus on the digital economy perspective.

  • On 11 February 2024, in terms of the state administrative management, following the issuance of the Strategy, on 11 February 2024, the Prime Minister released Directive No. 04/CT-TTg (“Directive 04“) regarding the improvement of the deployment of projects on developing residential data applications and electronic authentication to serve national digital transformation. Notably, under Directive 04, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) is assigned to propose the formulation of two critical data-related legislative projects, namely the proposal of Law on Personal Data Protection and the proposal of Law on Data.
  • On 29 February 2024, as a prompt response to the Prime Minister’s directive, the MPS published two proposal dossiers of the Law on Personal Data Protection and the Law on Data. Nonetheless, as these represent the preliminary steps to initiate the drafting process, the MPS has only published relevant materials, such as the impact assessment reports, without providing the outlines and completed drafts of these legislative projects.

While the proposal of a Law on Personal Data Protection has been in planning for years, expected to be an upgraded version and solve the potential conflicts between the current Vietnam Decree 13/2023/ND-CP on Personal Data Protection (PDPD) and other existing regulations on personal data protection, this is the first time the idea of formulating the proposal of data law has been introduced. According to the MPS, the data law shall cover several significant policies, including the comprehensive national database, the National Data Center, and data-related products and services.

Although the above-mentioned legislative projects are still in early progress, we can envision a broad outline of the three pillars of Vietnam’s future data laws, specifically as follows:

  • The Law on the Digital Technology Industry shall establish a legal basis for digital data as a property right, thereby facilitating the development of a data market in the Vietnam economic system
  • The Law on Data shall be in charge of the technical aspect of data, such as the national database and data center
  • The Law on Personal Data Protection shall play a vital role as the protector of data regulation compliance in Vietnam, prevailing the PDPD.

These data-related proposals have yet to be included in the National Assembly’s (NA) legislative agenda for 2024. However, the MPS and MIC are required to submit relevant proposal dossiers to the government by the second quarter of 2024. Upon completing the reviewing process, the government may suggest that the NA add such proposals to the 2025 legislative agenda at the latest, given the rapid changes in technology and the government’s heightened demand for digital transformation and digital economic development.

We will follow up closely on the ongoing development of data policy in general, and particularly the data privacy regime, and keep you posted with the latest updates.

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Author

Hung Tran is the practice group leader of the Intellectual Property (IP) and Technology Practice Groups of Vietnam offices. For years, he has been constantly ranked as a leading IP lawyer by numerous researchers such as Chambers Global and Chambers Asia.
He regularly writes articles concerning pressing legal issues in both English and Vietnamese, and his works have been published regularly in various reputable publications. He has assisted the government in reviewing and revising the IP Law, the IP provisions under the country’s criminal code, the draft e-Transaction Law, and the first draft Personal Data Protection Decree, etc.
He is also a respected presenter in the area of IP, Franchising, Data Privacy, and Entertainment Laws. In addition to authoring many publications, Mr. Tran has lectured at Waseda University School of Law (Japan), Vietnam-German University, Hanoi Law University, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Foreign Trade University, an international MBA Program (CFVG) and IP laws for the Professional Training School of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. He used to serve as the Chairman of the Legal Committee of Hanoi American Chamber of Commerce.

Author

Huu Tuan Nguyen is a special counsel in the Commercial, Data, IP Tech and Trade Practice Group of Baker McKenzie's Vietnam office.
Huu Tuan is consistently involved in significant matters for prominent clients and has over ten years of extensive experience. He has a profound understanding on various legal aspects, including provision of legal advice and represent clients on intellectual property, cyber security, data privacy, technology, commercial and trade, and dispute resolution.
His works cover a full range of contentious and non-contentious aspects in the TMT space and acts for leading clients across the technology, entertainment, telecom, film, fashion, and consumer goods sectors. He regularly advises and represents multinational companies on tech-related transactions, data protection, privacy, e-commerce, compliance and disputes.
His work also covers IP law, focusing on copyright, unfair competition, domain names, and commercial intellectual property, including licensing arrangements, trade secrets, and technology laws. In addition, he is also well experienced in commercial contracts, marketing and advertising matters.

Author

Tuan Linh Nguyen is a Government Affairs Manager in in BMVN International LLC, Hanoi office.

Author

Huyen Minh Nguyen is an Associate in BMVN International LLC, Hanoi office.

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