‘It is necessary to prioritize personal data protection in the digital economy’

The information was given by Mr. Nguyen Khac Lich, Director of Information Technology Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, at the conference “Compliance with the Law on Personal Data Protection: Challenges, risks and technological solutions” taking place in Hanoi on March 20.

According to Mr. Lich, technologies such as AI, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT)… are drastically changing the economy, and data is indispensable for these technologies. He quoted General Secretary To Lam, data “is the air and light of the new era, the means of production of the new era”.

However, he acknowledged that the issue of protecting data resources is facing increasing challenges. “Personal data is the nucleus of the digital data ecosystem, the foundation for creating highly personalized digital products and services,” Mr. Lich said. “Therefore, protecting personal data is not only a legal requirement, but also a prerequisite for sustainable development of the digital economy.”

In that context, the Law on Personal Data Protection effective from January 1 is an important step forward, creating a strict legal corridor and approaching international standards. However, Mr. Lich believes that protecting personal data does not lie solely with management agencies, but is instead a common responsibility of the entire society, especially businesses.

For personal data to become a driving force for social development, the Director of the Information Technology Industry, stated four aspects that need to be improved with data mining businesses.

First, he said that we need to join hands to contribute to forming a transparent and safe personal data environment. “Protecting user rights will motivate people to be willing to share data to receive higher quality services, especially types of data that can be exploited effectively without violating privacy,” Mr. Lich stated.

Next, he said it is necessary to promote the standardization of corporate governance capacity, help domestic businesses access international standards, improve reputation and ability to participate in regional and global standards.

Third is to open up opportunities to develop the compliance technology market – a new segment that is assessed to have great potential.

Finally, the Director of Information Technology Industry emphasized the need to build digital trust. This is considered an important foundation to help promote the digital transformation process throughout society.

Criminals see data as “new gold mine”

According to Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dinh Do Thi, Deputy Head of the Staff Department, Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05), Ministry of Public Security, in the digital era, a data leak incident can cause great damage, even much more than the cost of investing in security. Data leaks cause businesses to lose money, lose brand reputation, lose customers, as well as face legal liability.

Citing figures, Mr. Thi pointed out that in the period 2023-2025, authorities have handled more than 30 cases with more than 160 million compromised data records. According to him, criminals are viewing data as a “new gold mine” to carry out hundreds of sophisticated fraud scenarios, thereby causing immeasurable damage. In addition, vulnerabilities from devices such as security cameras and phones also become tools for bad guys to steal confidential personal information.

Lieutenant Colonel Pham Bao Nguyen, Deputy Head of Division 5, National Data Center, said that Vietnam has gradually improved personal data protection, especially when the Personal Data Protection Law took effect. However, he pointed out that during implementation, there are actually many challenges when data is currently collected, stored and processed on many different platforms, while many systems have not been designed according to data protection principles from the beginning.

According to Mr. Nguyen, to protect personal data, it is not just about technical factors. At the same time, it is necessary to synchronously deploy both people, processes and internal management systems.

Experts previously warned that personal data risks in Vietnam are becoming increasingly serious. According to a report by the National Cyber ​​Security Association, in 2025, information systems in Vietnam will face about 552,000 cyber attacks. Although this number is down 19.38% compared to 2024 (about 659,000 attacks), damage is likely to increase, when up to 52.3% of agencies, organizations and businesses suffer damage, up from 46.15% in 2024. According to experts, this shows that attacks are increasingly targeted and focused on stealing valuable data instead of just sabotaging the system.

In addition, the trend of shifting from widespread attacks to targeted attacks (APT), ransomware and data theft is also increasing sharply in Vietnam. In which personal data and business customer data become the main targets. Many attack campaigns combine multiple techniques at the same time to hijack data. In addition to the risk of external attacks, businesses also face the risk of leakage when exploiting and using customer data improperly.