Facebook and Google have to install servers in Vietnam from early 2019

June 12, 2018 | 23:57

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Facebook and Google will have to install servers in Vietnam from January 1, 2019 as the Law on Cybersecurity comes into effect.

facebook and google have to install servers in vietnam from early 2019

Requiring foreign firms to install servers in Vietnam is stipulated in the Law on Cybersecurity's Article 26. Photo: AFP

The National Assembly on June 12 officially approved the Law on Cybersecurity with 423 out of the 466 delegates (86.96 per cent) attending the National Assembly meeting in favour of the proposal. 15 delegates disagreed and 28 delegates abstained.

The requirement for foreign firms to install servers in Vietnam is stipulated in Article 26 of the law. Accordingly, domestic and foreign firms providing telecommunications and internet services and value-added services in the Vietnamese cyberspace, have to authenticate and protect users’ information as they register digital accounts.

In addition, the firms have to provide access to users’ information to the agency specialised in cybersecurity (the Ministry of Public Security) and are obligated to support the Ministry’s investigation related to violations of the Law on Cybersecurity.

Domestic and foreign firms have to store data at Vietnamese servers in accordance with the government’s regulations in case of collecting, exploiting, and analyising personal information and the relations of people using the firms’ services in Vietnam.

Finally, foreign firms specialised in cyber activities have to install servers and establish representative offices in Vietnam. The law will come into effect from January 1, 2019.

Thus, from early 2019, Facebook and Google will have to install servers and establish representative offices in Vietnam.

Slapping tax on Facebook and Google has been difficult for Vietnamese authorities in the past many years as the two technology companies have not established representative offices and installed servers in Vietnam.

In 2016-2017, Facebook and Google only paid VND120 billion ($5.28 million) in taxes in Vietnam via their partners, including advertising agencies and Vietnamese businesses directly purchasing their services. The money is very small against their revenue of hundreds of millions of dollars in Vietnam. However, the Law on Cybersecurity coming into effect from early 2019 will make it easier for Vietnamese authorities to take their dues.