Current Medical Privacy Guidelines Criticized as Crude, Shih Chung-liang Promises Review and Improvement
In Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, current medical privacy protection guidelines have been criticized as inadequate. Following suspicions of voyeurism in aesthetic clinics, issues such as ambiguous patient consent rights and the lack of legal basis for medical image storage have been raised. The Minister of Health and Welfare has promised to review and improve the situation.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 11, 2026 at 13:42
- 🔍 Collected: May 11, 2026 at 14:01 (19 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 11, 2026 at 22:59 (8h 57m after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency reporter Chen Chieh-ling, Taipei, 11th) As suspicions of voyeurism in aesthetic clinics continue to spread, legislators have questioned that the current medical privacy guidelines are too crude, not only making it difficult to prevent illegal acts, blurring patients' right to informed consent, but also lacking legal basis for the safe storage of images after consent. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang has promised to review and improve the situation.
Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lin Shu-fen pointed out today in the Legislative Yuan's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee that the current medical privacy guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Welfare are too crude, lacking support from a parent law, without mandatory force, and without any penalties; it cannot rely entirely on the Personal Data Protection Act, because the Personal Data Protection Act is only a general principle, while medical privacy has its particularity.
Lin Shu-fen said that whether posting "Please smile while being photographed" in medical institutions is equivalent to informing and obtaining consent is not explicitly regulated by law. Currently, the medical system's regulation of medical privacy is low, relying only on the Personal Data Protection Act, which is actually a laissez-faire approach; she understands that the medical community installs video recorders to avoid disputes, but there are no clear regulations on the storage and management of recordings, or responsibility for negligence.
Lin Shu-fen stated that no one had ever explained how video recorders should be installed, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare had not formulated relevant regulations until now, when the problem was realized after a well-known aesthetic clinic was suspected of voyeurism; installing video recorders in medical work areas has become common practice, but no one knows the installation standards, nor has any inspection been conducted.
Lin Shu-fen said that medical images are now easily obtained, and medical procedures in many situations may be filmed, whether pre- and post-operative photos are used for marketing, or teaching images and other important medical uses. If clear regulations are lacking, patients' medical videos can easily be abused, and patient privacy is not guaranteed at all. "The whereabouts of video images are unknown, and they may even flow into the dark web or pornographic websites."
Lin Shu-fen reminded that it is not as simple as "consenting to filming." The big problem comes after consent. After medical institutions obtain images, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has no legal protection for medical image storage. She fears that the incident in South Korea years ago, where a plastic surgery hospital was hacked and medical images of celebrities and other patients flowed into the dark web, might happen in Taiwan. "Patients' faces are clearly filmed, and videos of them completely undressed are spread online."
Lin Shu-fen believes that in addition to ensuring that illegal pinhole recording does not occur in medical settings, regulations should also be formulated for medical images taken with patient consent, with strict legal provisions to ensure legal access and storage; the correct way to protect the privacy of people seeking medical treatment should be to regard recordings as part of medical records and to preserve them fully and safely.
Shih Chung-liang stated that related measures will be reviewed and improved in the future. The first point is supervision and assessment. Local health bureaus conduct supervision and assessment annually, and problematic surveillance cameras must be identified; a meeting will be held this Wednesday with local health units to explain relevant practices, and problematic surveillance cameras identified in medical institutions will be included as a key focus of this year's supervision and assessment.
According to the Medical Act, there is the right to conduct unannounced inspections, so there is no need to worry that medical institutions will remove devices in advance. Shih Chung-liang said that the second layer of protection is the discretion for violations and installation guidelines. Criteria for discretion for violations will be discussed, and installation guidelines for surveillance cameras will also be drafted if necessary; as for the formulation of regulations for medical images taken with patient consent, it will also be evaluated in the future, moving in this direction. (Editor: Chen Renhua) 1150511
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(Central News Agency reporter Chen Chieh-ling, Taipei, 11th) As suspicions of voyeurism in aesthetic clinics continue to spread, legislators have questioned that the current medical privacy guidelines are too crude, not only making it difficult to prevent illegal acts, blurring patients' right to informed consent, but also lacking legal basis for the safe storage of images after consent. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang has promised to review and improve the situation.
Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lin Shu-fen pointed out today in the Legislative Yuan's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee that the current medical privacy guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Welfare are too crude, lacking support from a parent law, without mandatory force, and without any penalties; it cannot rely entirely on the Personal Data Protection Act, because the Personal Data Protection Act is only a general principle, while medical privacy has its particularity.
Lin Shu-fen said that whether posting "Please smile while being photographed" in medical institutions is equivalent to informing and obtaining consent is not explicitly regulated by law. Currently, the medical system's regulation of medical privacy is low, relying only on the Personal Data Protection Act, which is actually a laissez-faire approach; she understands that the medical community installs video recorders to avoid disputes, but there are no clear regulations on the storage and management of recordings, or responsibility for negligence.
Lin Shu-fen stated that no one had ever explained how video recorders should be installed, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare had not formulated relevant regulations until now, when the problem was realized after a well-known aesthetic clinic was suspected of voyeurism; installing video recorders in medical work areas has become common practice, but no one knows the installation standards, nor has any inspection been conducted.
Lin Shu-fen said that medical images are now easily obtained, and medical procedures in many situations may be filmed, whether pre- and post-operative photos are used for marketing, or teaching images and other important medical uses. If clear regulations are lacking, patients' medical videos can easily be abused, and patient privacy is not guaranteed at all. "The whereabouts of video images are unknown, and they may even flow into the dark web or pornographic websites."
Lin Shu-fen reminded that it is not as simple as "consenting to filming." The big problem comes after consent. After medical institutions obtain images, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has no legal protection for medical image storage. She fears that the incident in South Korea years ago, where a plastic surgery hospital was hacked and medical images of celebrities and other patients flowed into the dark web, might happen in Taiwan. "Patients' faces are clearly filmed, and videos of them completely undressed are spread online."
Lin Shu-fen believes that in addition to ensuring that illegal pinhole recording does not occur in medical settings, regulations should also be formulated for medical images taken with patient consent, with strict legal provisions to ensure legal access and storage; the correct way to protect the privacy of people seeking medical treatment should be to regard recordings as part of medical records and to preserve them fully and safely.
Shih Chung-liang stated that related measures will be reviewed and improved in the future. The first point is supervision and assessment. Local health bureaus conduct supervision and assessment annually, and problematic surveillance cameras must be identified; a meeting will be held this Wednesday with local health units to explain relevant practices, and problematic surveillance cameras identified in medical institutions will be included as a key focus of this year's supervision and assessment.
According to the Medical Act, there is the right to conduct unannounced inspections, so there is no need to worry that medical institutions will remove devices in advance. Shih Chung-liang said that the second layer of protection is the discretion for violations and installation guidelines. Criteria for discretion for violations will be discussed, and installation guidelines for surveillance cameras will also be drafted if necessary; as for the formulation of regulations for medical images taken with patient consent, it will also be evaluated in the future, moving in this direction. (Editor: Chen Renhua) 1150511
Choose to stand with facts, your every sponsorship is the power to protect press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency's "First-hand News" APP to stay updated with the latest news instantly.
The text, images, and audio/video on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or used without authorization.