In the context of today\u2019s rapidly accelerating digital transformation, personal data has become a valuable asset for businesses while also requiring protection against the risks of unauthorized collection, use, disclosure, or transfer. To strengthen the legal framework on personal data protection, on 26 June 2025, The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam enacted the Personal Data Protection Law No. 91\/2025\/QH15. This landmark legislation establishes a unified and more comprehensive legal framework for the protection of personal data, replacing and enhancing the regulatory foundation previously provided under Decree No. 13\/2023\/ND-CP. This article highlights some notable new provisions of the Law, key prohibited acts, and the sanctions that individuals and businesses should pay close attention to in order to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.<\/p>\n
1. Key Changes introduced by the Personal Data Protection Law 2025 Compared to Decree No. 13\/2023\/ND-CP<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most notable changes introduced by the Personal Data Protection Law 2025 is its expanded scope of application. While Decree No. 13\/2023\/ND-CP mainly regulated personal data processing activities in Vietnam, the new Law also applies to foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals directly participating in or involved in the processing of personal data of Vietnamese citizens and persons of Vietnamese origin whose nationality has not been determined, residing in Vietnam and holding valid identification certificates. In addition, Article 2 of the Law refines the definition of personal data. Under Decree No. 13\/2023\/ND-CP, personal data was defined as information in the form of symbols, letters, numbers, images, sounds, or similar forms in the electronic environment. The new Law broadens this concept to include digital data or information in other forms that identifies or may be used to identify a specific individual.<\/p>\n In addition to expanding its scope, the Personal Data Protection Law 2025 introduces a governance framework for emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, and user profiling activities. These provisions reflect the legislature\u2019s efforts to address the growing privacy and data protection challenges arising from technological advancements and digital economy. Most notably, the Law introduces a significant shift in the enforcement regime. Unlike Decree No. 13\/2023\/ND-CP, which mainly imposed fixed administrative fines, the Personal Data Protection Law 2025 introduces revenue-based sanction mechanism for certain serious violations. This new approach is expected to increase the deterrent effect, encourage businesses to invest more resources in personal data protection, and strengthen corporate accountability and legal compliance in the course of their operations.<\/p>\n 2. Prohibited Acts under the Personal Data Protection Law 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n Another notable feature of the Personal Data Protection Law 2025 is its clear identification of prohibited acts in personal data processing activities. While rights and obligations establish the compliance framework, prohibited acts represent the \u201cred lines\u201d that all organizations and individuals must strictly avoid. Accordingly, Article 7 of the Law prohibits the following acts: Processing personal data to oppose the Socialist Republic of Vietnam or in ways that adversely affect national defense, national security, social order, safety, and lawful rights and interests of agencies, organizations, and individuals; Obstructing personal data protection activities; Taking advantage of personal data protection activities to violate the law; Processing personal data in violation of the law; Using personal data of others and\/or letting others use one\u2019s personal data to violate the law; Buying or selling personal data unless otherwise prescribed by the law and Appropriating, intentionally disclosing, or causing the loss of personal data.<\/p>\n In practice, many activities that appear to be routine business operations may , in fact, give rise to significant legal risks. Collecting customer information without a lawful basis, sharing customer data with advertising or marketing partners, purchasing lists of phone numbers or email addresses for marketing purposes, and similar activities are common examples. In addition, incidents involving the unauthorized disclosure or loss of employee, customer, or consumer data due to inadequate security measures may lead to substantial legal liability for businesses. As personal data is increasingly regarded as a valuable asset, improper management or use of such data may not only result in regulatory sanctions but also adversely affect a company\u2019s reputation and undermine customer confidence and trust.<\/p>\n 3. Penalties for Violations<\/strong><\/p>\n Along with identifying prohibited acts, the Personal Data Protection Law 2025 establishes a more robust enforcement and sanctions regime, reflecting the legislature\u2019s determination to improving the protection of personal data in practice. This is also one of the most significant changes introduced by the Law. Accordingly, violations involving the purchase or sale of personal data may be subject to fines of up to ten times unlawful gains derived from the offending conduct. For violations relating to cross-border transfers of personal data, organizations may face penalties of up to 5% of their revenue in the preceding fiscal year. In addition, other violations may result in fines of up to VND 3 billion for organizations. Beyond monetary penalties, violators may also be required to implement remedial measures, compensate data subjects for damages, and, in serious cases, may be subject to criminal prosecution where the relevant conduct satisfies the statutory elements of a criminal offence.<\/p>\n The Personal Data Protection Law 2025 is not merely a replacement for Decree No. 13\/2023\/ND-CP; it also represents a significant shift in Vietnam\u2019s approach to the governance and protection of personal data. While compliance with personal data protection regulations was previously seen mainly as a legal obligation, it has now become a fundamental business imperative for businesses. Given that penalties may reach billions of Vietnamese Dong or be calculated based on revenue, failure to adapt to the new requirements may result in significant legal and financial risks. Therefore, proactively establishing effective personal data protection framework is not only a way to reduce risks but also an essential step for businesses seeking sustainable growth in the digital economy.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Trong b\u1ed1i c\u1ea3nh chuy\u1ec3n \u0111\u1ed5i s\u1ed1 \u0111ang di\u1ec5n ra m\u1ea1nh m\u1ebd hi\u1ec7n nay, d\u1eef li\u1ec7u c\u00e1 nh\u00e2n \u0111\u00e3 tr\u1edf th\u00e0nh ngu\u1ed3n t\u00e0i s\u1ea3n c\u00f3 gi\u00e1 tr\u1ecb \u0111\u1eb7c bi\u1ec7t \u0111\u1ed1i v\u1edbi c\u00e1c doanh nghi\u1ec7p, \u0111\u1ed3ng th\u1eddi c\u0169ng l\u00e0 \u0111\u1ed1i t\u01b0\u1ee3ng c\u1ea7n \u0111\u01b0\u1ee3c b\u1ea3o v\u1ec7 tr\u01b0\u1edbc nh\u1eefng nguy c\u01a1 b\u1ecb thu th\u1eadp, s\u1eed d\u1ee5ng ho\u1eb7c chia s\u1ebb […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tin-tuc"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tin-associates.com.vn\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tin-associates.com.vn\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tin-associates.com.vn\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tin-associates.com.vn\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tin-associates.com.vn\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tin-associates.com.vn\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1200,"href":"https:\/\/tin-associates.com.vn\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199\/revisions\/1200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tin-associates.com.vn\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tin-associates.com.vn\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tin-associates.com.vn\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}