Amidst Clinic Filming Scandal, New Taipei Bans Covert Recording, Restricts Filming in Private Consultation Rooms

(CNA reporter Huang Hsu-sheng, New Taipei, 20th) A pinhole camera secret filming incident at an aesthetic medical clinic has drawn public attention. The New Taipei City Government's Health Bureau stated today that, based on a consensus reached in a meeting with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, it has issued a notice to medical institutions prohibiting the use of covert recording devices and, in principle, banning recording in high-privacy spaces. Following a series of secret filming incidents at aesthetic clinics, the Taipei City Department of Health issued the "Administrative Guidance for the Installation and Management of Recording Equipment in Medical Institutions under the Jurisdiction of the Taipei City Government Department of Health" on the 19th, stating that medical institutions should adopt different installation principles based on the level of privacy of the space. In response to an inquiry from a CNA reporter this afternoon about whether New Taipei would follow Taipei's lead in setting guidelines, the New Taipei City Health Bureau stated that during a May 13th meeting between the central Ministry of Health and Welfare and local government health bureaus, it was decided that national guidelines for the installation of recording equipment in medical institutions would be revised. The Health Bureau said that New Taipei will require medical institutions to comply with the central government's guidelines. Before the central guidelines are released, the consensus from that meeting has already been sent as a notice to all medical institutions and clinics. The city government said the consensus from the meeting is that medical institutions are prohibited from using covert recording devices. For safety, fixed recording equipment can be installed in public spaces, but it must be clearly marked. In low-privacy spaces within medical institutions, patients must be informed (including matters required under the Personal Data Protection Act, data access and storage management, etc.) and written consent must be obtained before recording. As for high-privacy spaces in medical institutions, such as consultation rooms involving physical examinations of private parts or aesthetic treatments that require high privacy protection, recording is, in principle, prohibited. In exceptional cases for teaching purposes, only partial filming is permitted, and written consent must be obtained after informing the patient. Regarding the ambulance process of fire departments, the city government stated that considering the surveillance camera's recording range in an ambulance cannot cover the entire emergency scene and that personnel may enter indoor areas, video and audio recording is necessary to preserve evidence for disaster relief or emergency care. The National Fire Agency has established the "Guiding Principles for the Use of Body-worn Video Recorders and the Preservation and Management of Audio-visual Data by Fire Departments during Duty," which all units follow. As for the Banqiao branch of the Ai-erh-li Clinic, it has not yet been ordered by the New Taipei Health Bureau to suspend operations because the evidence has not been fully collected. Consumers continued to receive services there today, and some people who had just returned from abroad rushed to get refunds. (Editor: Lin Shu-hui) 1150520