The fine is included in a draft decree on protecting personal data drawn up by the ministry.

The draft decree divides personal data into two categories. Basic data includes first name and last name at birth, date of birth, blood type, sex, phone number, place of birth, place of residence, identity card number, marital statu, driver's license number and personal tax code.

The other category comprises sensitive personal data, including political view, religious beliefs, health conditions and genetic data.

The ministry now suggests a fine of VND50-80 million for anyone disclosing and sharing such information illegally without owner consent.

A fine of VND80-100 million is proposed for illegally transferring personal data across the border, as well as violations in registration of sensitive personal data.

The person charged with imposing fines is said to be the head of the ministry’s Department of Cybersecurity and Hi-tech Crime Prevention, according to the decree.

However, the draft decree allows third parties, which include business organizations, data processors, and authorized state agencies, to disclose personal data without owner consent in cases where data is deemed essential in protecting national security, national defense, social ethics and community health.

Explaining its decision, the ministry said disclosing, leaking, stealing, buying and selling personal data online has become increasingly common and that the draft decree is meant to counter these trends.

In addition to these violations, more and more agencies and companies have been collecting, analyzing and using personal data for various purposes without informing their clients, posing a risk to national security, social order and cybersecurity.

The ministry will collect feedback from other ministries and departments over the next two months.

According to the ministry, more than two-thirds of Vietnam’s 95-million people are online, making the nation rank 13th globally in the number of internet users.

Of those users, 58 million have Facebook accounts and 62 million, Google accounts.