Vietnam’s long-awaited draft Personal Data Protection Decree (PDPD) appears ready to come to life!
1. Government’s Resolution 13
On 7 February 2023, the Vietnam Government issued Resolution No. 13/NQ-CP (Resolution 13) to formally approve all the PDPD formulation dossier, including the draft decree’s content, as well as to seek appraisal comments from the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) on the draft decree. Resolution 13 signifies the upcoming issuance of the PDPD.
Another takeaway from Resolution 13 is that it helps reveal the exceptions from obtaining consent to process personal data that will be included in the PDPD. The exceptions are highly similar to those we reported last year concerning Government Resolution No. 27/NQ-CP dated 7 March 2022, which you can read further by clicking the hyperlink.
We note that Resolution 13 and Resolution 27 are not legally binding, and hence, the consent exceptions should be regarded as for reference only.
2. National Assembly’s appraisal of the draft PDPD
On 8 February, the National Assembly’s Defense and Security Committee (DSC) held a plenary conference to appraise the draft PDPD. Though the major substance of PDPD has not been released to the public, we note below two issues regarding the PDPD:
- Regarding the issuance date: the DSC has agreed to submit the PDPD to the NASC for final approval. If everything goes smoothly, the draft PDPD could be issued by early March 2023.
- Regarding the effective date: Under the latest version of the draft PDPD, the effective date is set to be 1 July 2023. During the conference, some delegates expressed concerns that the draft PDPD contains various new requirements that demand a reasonable roadmap for compliance. Hence, the PDPD’s effective date could be set to be later than 1 July 2023, or there could be a grace period granted to comply with certain obligations.
