A government proposal to assign digital identities to additional actions and transactions has triggered inter-agency pushback and criticism in Việt Nam.
The Latest: On Aug. 25, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) published a summary of feedback and its responses on the draft Law on Electronic Identification and Authentication.
- The document reveals that the proposal to identify “events, transactions, and actions” drew opposition and criticism from multiple state agencies, ministries, and private organizations.
The Details: The Government Office called for officials to “consider and assess the feasibility of permanently storing national electronic identity information, particularly for highly dynamic subjects such as real-time events, transactions, and actions.”
- In response,the National Assembly delegations from Hồ Chí Minh City, Quảng Ngãi, and Bắc Ninh raised several objections regarding information security and “digital footprints.”
- They warned of “an explosion of data that could overwhelm the national storage system, reduce authentication performance, and result in an enormous waste of infrastructure resources.”
Other stakeholders demanded specific technical clarifications.
- The ministries of Finance, Justice, and Home Affairs asked the MPS to explain why expanding electronic identification was necessary, what government objectives it would serve, and whether extending it to “events, transactions, and actions” was feasible.
- The Ministry of Industry and Trade asked “how actions or interactions be identified, which agency would carry this out, and what legal standing such identification would have.”
- The Supreme People’s Court requested clarification on the life cycle of identification codes and the criteria for distinguishing events, transactions, and actions.
- Canon Vietnam Co., Ltd. specifically recommended “excluding subjects that lack stability” and “narrowing the scope of electronic identification under Article 7 to prioritize stable subjects that require centralized management.”
From the MPS: Responding to the feedback, the MPS stated that it would “take the comments into account and review the mandatory and voluntary categories.”
- However, it maintained that the July draft “already clearly distinguished the categories subject to mandatory identification” from those for which identification was “encouraged or voluntary.”
Contradiction with the Draft: The draft Law on Electronic Identification and Authentication contains no provision for “voluntary” identification.
- Regarding “events, transactions, and actions” listed in Article 7, Clause 4, Article 20, Clause 3 states:
“The electronic identities of activities, events, transactions, actions, and interactions specified in Clause 4, Article 7 of this Law must be linked to the electronic identification codes of all participating entities and associated with the time, location, and space in which they occur.”
The Background: The proposed Law on Electronic Identification and Authentication was not part of the National Assembly’s original legislative agenda.
- It was fast-tracked on May 11, 2026, when the government issued Resolution No. 125, adding the bill to the agenda at the MPS’ request.
In late July, the ministry released the draft legislation.
- This draft intends to extend identification beyond agencies, organizations, and individuals, seeking instead to link data to all participating parties to establish a unified “electronic identity.”
- On Sept. 23, National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn said that he supported the ministry’s proposal but stressed that “the legal standing of identification codes must be clarified.”
Hoàng Nam wrote this news article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on September 24, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated it into English.
