Digital transformation helps prevent petty corruption: public security minister

The public security sector has paid attention to the detection, investigation and settlement of cases related to corruption and negative phenomena, while streamlining its organisational structure, reforming administrative procedures, strengthening the rule of law, and creating favourable conditions for people and businesses.

Digital transformation should be sped up in all fields to ensure openness and transparency so as to contribute to preventing corruption, especially petty corruption, Minister of Public Security Tô Lâm told a Q&A session at the 15th National Assembly’s ongoing sixth plenum on November 7.

According to him, the public security sector has paid attention to the detection, investigation and settlement of cases related to corruption and negative phenomena, while streamlining its organisational structure, reforming administrative procedures, strengthening the rule of law, and creating favourable conditions for people and businesses, avoiding causing difficulties and harassment.

Regarding measures to improve the effectiveness of the fight against corruption and negative phenomena in the coming time, the minister stressed the need to focus on perfecting institutions and improving the efficiency of State management in all fields, and addressing legal loopholes.

Attention should be paid to reviewing and supplementing regulations on power control, especially of heads of ministries, sectors and localities.

Answering a question related to the leak of personal information and phone numbers, Lâm said that the situation was developing complicatedly in Việt Nam.

This year, the Ministry of Public Security had issued warnings and handled many cases related to database intrusion. However, people's awareness of data protection was not high, as many willingly provide their personal information to others and businesses when performing civil transactions.

To address this problem, the minister said his ministry had advised the Government to issue Decree No. 13/2023/ND-CP on personal data protection, and planned to propose making a law on this issue to submit to the National Assembly for comments in 2024. At the same time, the ministry would also propose adding the crime of revealing and leaking personal data to the 2015 Penal Code so as to strictly handle this act.

More efforts would be made to increase public vigilance and raise their awareness of personal data protection, Lâm said, adding that the Ministry of Public Security regularly coordinates with other ministries, sectors and localities to review and fix security loopholes in database information systems, especially the National Database on Population.