The Law on Personal Data Protection – which is being submitted to the National Assembly – marks an important step forward in perfecting the legal framework for protecting personal information in Vietnam. The draft law stipulates strict administrative penalties, ranging from 1% to 5% of the previous year’s revenue, for organizations and businesses that violate the law. This not only creates great pressure for compliance, but also forces businesses to proactively improve their security capabilities and seriously invest in data systems.
According to Mr. Huynh Le Tan Tai, Co-Chairman of the Vietnam CIO Community: “Data is the ‘gold mine’ of the digital economy and needs to be protected by strict mechanisms as the scale of exploitation is increasingly expanding”. He believes that the emergence of national data platforms and the Data Law coming into effect will open a new era for data management, sharing and exploitation, while protecting users’ privacy.
Compliance with the law is not only a legal matter but also a key factor in building digital trust with customers. Mr. Tai emphasized that transparency in data collection and processing is now a mandatory requirement, not only to meet legal regulations but also to be an ethical responsibility and a business brand.
From a practical perspective, Mr. Ha Hoang – CEO of Data Protectify – commented: “Digital trust is the core factor that helps businesses retain customers in the context of AI and technology reshaping the way the market operates. To achieve this, businesses need to integrate data security right from the product design and development stage – instead of just patching bugs after launch.”
In addition,modern data centers play a key role in ensuring the safety, integrity and high availability of enterprise data systems. “There can be no effective data security without a strong digital infrastructure. Data centers are the backbone of digital transformation strategies and are the place to store and process the increasingly large volume of data from digitalization, AI, IoT activities…”.
Investing in data centers not only helps businesses meet new regulatory standards, but also ensures scalability, disaster recovery, and optimal performance in an increasingly complex digital environment.
Establishing a solid foundation for data protection
The coming into effect of the Personal Data Protection Law and the operation of the National Data Center are turning points in establishing a transparent, safe and trustworthy business environment in Vietnam. However, according to experts, to take advantage of this opportunity, businesses need to build a data protection foundation not only from a technological perspective but also in internal thinking and culture.
In fact, a number of large enterprises in Vietnam – especially in the banking, telecommunications and e-commerce sectors – have pioneered the implementation of personal data management systems. They apply modern technologies such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication, along with publishing clear privacy policies to build trust from customers.
In that context, data centers play a crucial role in the safe operation of information systems. Using international standard data centers (Tier III, Tier IV) helps businesses ensure fast data access speed, high redundancy, while increasing access control, risk management and real-time monitoring.
Mr. Le Quoc Trung, CFO of Chanel Vietnam, affirmed: “Data is a key factor that helps businesses plan strategies, make decisions and optimize operating processes. To exploit data effectively, it is necessary to synchronize three factors: people, processes and technology”.
From a practical perspective, Mr. Ha Hoang added that businesses need to proactively and clearly inform users about the purpose of collection, how to use and the ability to share data with third parties, ensuring transparent consent. This is a factor that helps businesses avoid legal risks and increase customer trust and loyalty.
In addition, choosing domestic data centers – especially those that meet international standards and are capable of integrating advanced security tools – is also considered by experts to be a priority trend in the context of increasing data localization requirements. This not only helps businesses comply with regulations but also minimizes external cybersecurity risks.
“Businesses in Vietnam need to prepare for an increasingly stringent legal environment. Re-evaluating the entire data processing process, proactively adjusting internal policies, and maintaining dialogue with regulatory agencies are urgent actions,” said Dang The Duc, CEO of Indochine Counsel.
In the context of tightening legal corridors and a business environment shifting strongly towards digitalization, data centers are becoming essential infrastructure, accompanying businesses not only in ensuring compliance with the law, but also in building trust, enhancing competitiveness and sustainable development in the digital age.