Grab's Acquisition of Taiwan's foodpanda: Scholars Urge Assessment of Data Control for National Security

(Central News Agency, Taipei, May 11) Regarding Grab's acquisition of foodpanda's Taiwan business, scholars pointed out on May 11 that the vast amount of Taiwanese information accumulated by foodpanda, if concentrated in the hands of a multinational corporation, raises national security concerns. They also stated that when reviewing infrastructure investments, in addition to the equity ratio, the data held by the company should be evaluated.

Grab previously announced the acquisition of foodpanda's Taiwan business for approximately US$600 million (approximately NT$19.3 billion). On March 27, Grab submitted an application for the acquisition of foodpanda's Taiwan business to the Fair Trade Commission. If the FTC approves, Grab expects to complete the transaction in the second half of this year.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Yueh-chin held a hearing on May 11 titled "What factors should the Fair Trade Commission consider in reviewing the Grab-foodpanda merger to meet public expectations?" Legislators from the same party, Chung Chia-pin, Hsu Fu-kuei, and Lai Hui-yuan, also attended to show their concern.

Su Po-hao, spokesperson for the Taiwan Food Delivery Industry Rights and Interests Alliance, pointed out that GrabMaps has signed a Petal Maps data exchange agreement with Huawei, and Grab relies on "Alibaba Cloud," which has been strictly purged by the Chinese Communist Party and is effectively controlled by it, as its cloud provider. Furthermore, Grab has core AI R&D centers in Beijing and Shenzhen. Under the framework where the Chinese Communist Party government forces companies to provide data, cross-border data isolation commitments are essentially void, potentially leading to the flow of Taiwanese data to mainland China.

Professor Liao Yi-ming from the Department of Political Science and Law at National University of Kaohsiung stated that Foodpanda has accumulated millions of data points on Taiwanese consumers' daily movement trajectories, living habits, business operating data, order volumes and financial status, as well as urban logistics hotspots, population density, and consumption distribution. In the digital age, data is a resource, platforms are infrastructure, and the algorithms of infrastructure are power. When these elements are concentrated in the hands of a few multinational corporations while the national review system remains stuck in a traditional framework, it becomes a serious national security issue.

Professor Liao believes that regarding questions related to information security and national security, the burden of proof should not fall on the opponents to demonstrate the risk. Instead, the applicant should specifically explain its existing cooperative relationships with Chinese companies and the concrete measures it will take at various technical levels and operational pathways to prevent Taiwanese user data from flowing to China.

Su Tzu-yun, Director of the Institute for Strategic Resources at the Taiwan Institute for National Defense and Security, cited European cases, noting that the focus of national intelligence security has gradually expanded to include logistics networks, port facilities, and supply chain databases. He argued that when the state reviews investments in critical infrastructure, in addition to the equity ratio, it should also evaluate the company's control over logistics information, the flow of dual-use goods, port and airport management systems, supply chain databases, and large-scale consumer and industrial data.

Legislator Lin Yueh-chin stated that whether the data held by the platform has personal or strategic sensitivity should be carefully evaluated. Although food delivery is a part of daily life services, in an emergency, whether a monopoly network controlled by a single foreign platform could pose a systemic risk to the country should be carefully assessed. National security is the most fundamental issue. If national security concerns lead to a reduction in overall economic benefits, the merger should be prohibited. (Editor: Zhai Sijia) 1150611