Seminar | The Right to Refuse Being "Digitalized": Evaluating the Constitutional Court Judgment on the National Health Insurance Database Case | Digital Rule of Law and Human Rights Protection Seminar

On August 12, the Constitutional Court announced Constitutional Judgment No. 13 of 2022 regarding the National Health Insurance Database case, which concerns the constitutionality of provisions in the Personal Data Protection Act and the utilization of personal data by the NHI database. Although the Justices held that Article 6, Paragraph 1, Proviso, Subparagraph 4 of the Personal Data Protection Act complies with the principle of legal definiteness and the principle of proportionality, they established three benchmark criteria regarding the constitutional protection of personal data and privacy:

1. The Personal Data Protection Act and other relevant laws lack an independent oversight mechanism for personal data protection, raising concerns of unconstitutionality.
2. Regarding organizational and procedural protection mechanisms for the storage, processing, transmission, and related aspects of NHI data, the Justices concluded that neither the current National Health Insurance Act nor related laws contain explicit provisions, thereby violating the principle of reserved by statute.
3. The Justices held that the provision of NHI data to government agencies or academic research institutions for uses outside the original purpose of collection lacks an opt-out right for the data subjects, violating the right to informational privacy guaranteed by the Constitution.

The reasoning and standards established by the aforementioned constitutional ruling will serve as guidelines for determining whether the government's measures in the digital age—such as collecting citizens' data and establishing digital data systems—are constitutional. This will also have a major impact on digital infrastructure actively promoted by the government in recent years, including the "New eID (Digital Identity) System" and the "Cross-Agency Data Transmission Dedicated Channel (T-Road)."

In response, the organizers have invited lawyers and scholars who have long monitored government digital policies to begin by evaluating this judgment, discussing the principles of digital rule of law that the government should abide by, and exploring how to safeguard citizens' informational autonomy rights to refuse being "digitalized."

In-person AttendanceOnline Participation

Time

Saturday, August 20, 2022, 10:00-12:00

Location

First Conference Hall, Lin-Tse Hall, College of Law, National Taiwan University
(No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Da'an Dist., Taipei City)

※Simultaneous in-person and online event. The online link will be sent via E-mail after registration.

Agenda

Time	Activity	Speaker/Moderator Introduction
09:30-10:00	Admission / Registration	--
10:00-10:05	Moderator's Opening Remarks	Attys. Ch'en Yü-t'eng Executive Committee Member, Judicial Reform Foundation Convener of the Legal Defense Team for the eID Chip ID Card Litigation
10:05-10:20	Panelist	Prof. Liu Ching-yi Professor and Director, Graduate Institute of National Development, National Taiwan University Jointly Appointed Research Fellow, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica
10:20-10:35	Panelist	Assoc. Prof. Su Hui-chieh Full-time Associate Professor, College of Law, National Taiwan University
10:35-10:50	Panelist	Atty. Li Chien-fei Chairperson, Committee on Petitions for Adjudication by Grand Justices, Taiwan Bar Association Litigation Counsel for Taipei High Administrative Court 110-Su-696 ID Card Litigation
10:50-11:05	Panelist	Atty. Wu Tzu-yi Practicing Attorney, Chung-Kuei Law Firm Amicus Curiae Counsel for the Judicial Reform Foundation in the NHI Database Case
11:05-11:40	General Discussion and Q&A	--
11:40-12:00	Post-event Networking and Closing	--

Organizers

Committee on Petitions for Adjudication by Grand Justices, Taiwan Bar Association
Judicial Reform Foundation