Nghe An National Assembly Delegate: Ensure respect for citizens' rights to personal information when amending the Law on Insurance Business

Panorama of the working session on the afternoon of May 27 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quang Khanh

After the Standing Committee member of the National Assembly, Chairman of the Economic Committee of the National Assembly Vu Hong Thanh presented the Report on explanation, acceptance and revision of the Draft Law on Insurance Business (amended), the National Assembly deputies discussed in the hall about a number of contents with different opinions of this law project.

Speaking at the discussion, Delegate of Nghe An Province Hoang Minh Hieu - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Law Committee assessed: The Draft Law on Insurance Business (amended) has absorbed most of the comments of National Assembly deputies at the previous session.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue chaired the working session. Senior Lieutenant General Tran Quang Phuong - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly chaired the meeting. Photo: Quang Khanh

However, to continue contributing to the completion of the draft Law, the delegate raised a number of issues regarding some administrative procedures for enterprises. The delegate stated that, from practice in the recent past, although there have been many improvements in administrative procedures, enterprises still face many obstacles in implementing these procedures.

According to the 2021 Provincial Competitiveness Report of VCCI, the rate of enterprises dissatisfied with administrative procedures increased from 22% in 2020 to 26% in 2021.

Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh presented the Report on explanation, acceptance and revision of the draft Law on Insurance Business. Photo: Quang Khanh

“This is a very worrying trend,” said the delegate of Nghe An Delegation, suggesting that in order to facilitate businesses and contribute to transparency in the implementation of administrative procedures right from the provisions of the laws issued by the National Assembly, it is necessary to clearly stipulate in the draft Law on Insurance Business (amended) the implementation period for administrative procedures, especially the period in which competent State agencies must respond to businesses.

The delegate cited that the provision in Clause 1, Article 91 requires that the transfer of insurance contracts can only be carried out after receiving written approval from the Ministry of Finance; however, the draft Law does not clearly stipulate how long it will take for the Ministry of Finance to respond after receiving the enterprise's written request.

The provision in Clause 3, Article 109 requires that in case an enterprise uses the deposit to meet its commitments to the insurance buyer when its payment capacity is insufficient, it must be approved in writing by the Ministry of Finance; however, the draft Law does not clearly stipulate how long the Ministry of Finance must approve and from what time?

"Therefore, we recommend that the drafting agency review and make adjustments to facilitate business operations," said delegate Hoang Minh Hieu.

National Assembly deputies of Nghe An delegation at the working session on the afternoon of May 27 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quang Khanh

Along with that, the delegate of Nghe An Delegation said that building databases on insurance business is necessary; but two issues need to be carefully considered.

First of all, it is necessary to clarify the objectives of building this database. Currently, the draft stipulates that the construction of the database has 3 objectives: Serving State management activities; serving insurance business activities; protecting the rights and interests of parties in insurance business activities.

Delegate Hoang Minh Hieu suggested that it is necessary to carefully consider the goal of serving insurance business activities, because to serve this goal, businesses can access and use information in the database.

However, allowing insurance companies to access and use this data will affect the security of personal information of insurance participants because they usually only agree to provide information to one company and not to all other companies.

“Moreover, allowing a business to use information collected by another business is also unreasonable,” delegate Hoang Minh Hieu analyzed.

Delegate of Nghe An Delegation Hoang Minh Hieu - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Law Committee gave comments on the draft Law on Insurance Business (amended). Photo: Quang Khanh

According to the delegate, it is necessary to clarify the authority to collect data. Clause 2, Article 11 of the draft Law requires insurance companies and insurance business organizations to provide information on insurance buyers, insured people, and insurance objects to build a database system on insurance business.

According to Mr. Hoang Minh Hieu, this provision is not consistent with the provisions of Article 38 of the Civil Code. Accordingly, "the collection, storage, use and disclosure of information related to the private life and personal secrets of an individual must be agreed upon by that person."

Therefore, to ensure respect for citizens' rights to personal information as prescribed by the Constitution and the Civil Code, delegates proposed to add a clear provision in Clause 2 of the principle: "Information about insurance buyers and insured persons provided by insurance companies and updated in the database must not be personally identifiable".

Based on the above analysis, he suggested that the drafting committee carefully study to have appropriate regulations; at the same time, he suggested that some contents related to legislative techniques be carefully reviewed and revised to ensure that the provisions of the law are easy to understand and easy to access.

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc spoke to receive opinions from National Assembly deputies on the Draft Law on Insurance Business (amended). Photo: Quang Khanh

Speaking to receive comments from National Assembly deputies, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc said that the drafting agency has closely coordinated with the Economic Committee and the Law Committee to complete the Law on Insurance Business (amended) in the direction of unifying and synchronizing the implementation of the law, creating initiative in insurance business activities, ensuring access to insurance products for customers. Through 21 comments from National Assembly deputies, the drafting committee will fully absorb the opinions of the deputies.

National Assembly Delegates of Nghe An Delegation at the working session on the morning of May 27 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quang Khanh

Earlier, at the beginning of the working session on the afternoon of May 27, the National Assembly listened to Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung, authorized by the Prime Minister, present the Draft Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control (amended); Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Social Committee Nguyen Thuy Anh presented the Report on the examination of this draft law.

In the morning of the same day, the National Assembly listened to Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra, authorized by the Prime Minister, present the Draft Law on Implementing Democracy at Grassroots Level; Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung presented the Report on the verification of the above project.

Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Social Committee Nguyen Thuy Anh presented a report explaining, accepting and revising the draft Law on Emulation and Commendation (amended); then, the National Assembly discussed in the hall a number of contents of this project that had different opinions. After that, the submitting agency and the agency in charge of verification coordinated to explain and clarify a number of issues raised by National Assembly deputies.