It is unclear whether individuals who refuse to link their digital IDs can still transact in the 11 sectors identified in the draft.
The Latest: Police Minister Lương Tam Quang responded to the National Assembly regarding the draft Law on Electronic Identification and Authentication on the morning of Nov. 4.
- Under Clause 5, Article 23 of the draft, online transactions across 11 sectors must be authenticated with, and linked to, a national electronic identity.
- The 11 sectors targeted by the draft are securities, telecommunications, banking, postal services, e-commerce, health care, payment intermediaries, e-wallets, crypto assets, online video games, and domain name services.
- The draft also lets ministers add more transactions that must be linked in “other fields that carry high risk or give rise to significant legal obligations.”
The full draft the police ministry submitted to the National Assembly has not been made public.
- The public knows its contents only through provisions reported by state media.
The draft law is on the list of bills expected to pass this session, which is scheduled to close Nov. 21.
No Social Media: While social media is not among the 11 sectors, under Decree 320/2026, which became effective Sept. 28, 2026, electronic transaction accounts on digital platforms, including social networks like Facebook, TikTok, and Zalo, must complete linking and authentication by Dec. 31, 2026.
Mandatory Linking: Despite Quang stating that data collection requires “the consent of the data subject,” linking in the 11 sectors is mandatory.
Additionally, while Quang listed the scope of identification as agencies, organizations, individuals, locations, spaces, core data, important data, high-risk goods, and state secrets, he did not mention the “events, transactions, and behavior” category.
- This category appeared in the draft summary posted on the government portal on Oct. 25, and it is unclear whether the revised draft keeps it.
“Events, Transactions, Behavior”: During public consultation, the Finance Ministry, Justice Ministry, Industry and Trade Ministry, and Supreme People’s Court asked the police ministry to explain and clarify its expansion of identification to “events, transactions, and behavior.”
- The business chamber VCCI warned that the draft could impose identification duties on “nearly every ordinary commercial and civil transaction.”
- On Oct. 26, the National Assembly’s Committee on National Defense, Security and Foreign Affairs warned that letting sector agencies or service providers decide which data fields to collect “could easily lead to abuse and violations of privacy.”
Addressing Privacy Concerns: On privacy, Quang stated that the draft is “designed with multiple layers of privacy protection, minimal data collection, and the consent of the data subject.”
- He pledged that the system “will not sync transaction content or share authentication results beyond the permitted scope.”
- Quang also noted that once a person’s information is complete and accurate in a national or sector-specific database, state agencies will automatically create their identity and issue a national identification code.
From Other Ministers: During the session, Thạch Phước Bình of the Vĩnh Long delegation praised the provision but proposed classifying transactions by risk level.
- He noted that booking a medical appointment differs from accessing medical records, and checking an account differs from a large money transfer.
Triệu Thị Ngọc Diễm of the Cần Thơ delegation proposed banning “the unauthorized collection, use, disclosure or sharing of electronic identification data and electronic authentication factors.”
- She cited the risk of criminals trading facial data, voice data and OTP codes.
Press reports recorded no lawmaker raising surveillance concerns.
Thành Phương wrote this news article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on Nov. 4, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine translated it into English.
