The Government hoped the legislative process for a cybersecurity law would be initiated in the second half of 2018, said today the Secretary for Security, Mr Wong Sio Chak.
Mr Wong added the Government was analysing opinions and suggestions gathered during a recent public consultation and expected a revision of a Government-proposed bill on the topic to be completed in the first half of this year.
The Government had held a public consultation from 11 December 2017 to 24 January this year regarding the proposed cybersecurity bill and received a total of 716 opinions and suggestions during the 45-day consultation.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Mr Wong said the majority of opinions received had expressed support for a mandatory requirement for purchasers of telephone SIM cards in Macao to provide details from a personal identification document held by them. Some comments had expressed concern about the protection of personal information and about procedures for Government departments to carry out their respective duties under the envisaged law.
The Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau was analysing what methods of sharing personal information – perhaps during purchase of a SIM card or when activating a SIM card – would provide greatest convenience to consumers in Macao while also protecting their personal information. The Bureau had not ruled out the possibility of asking for personal registration both at point of sale and at the time of card activation.
The Secretary reiterated that the cybersecurity bill aimed to maintain the security of the city’s “critical infrastructure” relating to information technology, and to protect the public’s safety when using the Internet.
Monitoring functions envisaged under the future law would be for the purposes of detecting any irregularity in the flow of data; it would not involve access to any personal information, said Mr Wong.
To obtain security-encrypted content posted online – in situations where a criminal act was suspected – public departments would be required to obtain approval from the judiciary before decoding such online material for investigation, Mr Wong added.
