The Identity and Identification in the Modern State: The legal history concerning personal data in Taiwan (1895-2010)
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Kuo, Yung-Hua
Abstract
This thesis tries to investigate the continuity and transformation of the personal identity system in Taiwan. During the period between 1895 and 2010, Empire of Japan and Republic of China have ruled Taiwan, and these two authorites brought in different identity and identification legal systems. This thesis will discuss these regulations in history as well as the Taiwan society ruled by them, and it will be divided into four periods: 1895-1905, 1906-1945, 1945-1992, and 1993-2010.
When Taiwan was ruled by the Ch''ing dynasty, there is no absolutely correct data for Taiwaness people. After 1895, Japan began to transplate the modern law concerning identy and identication to Taiwan. At first, the Government-Gerneral of Taiwan couldn’t completely control the whole island. Then, the authority used Pao-chia system to assist police syatem, and the Japan government eliminated the people who rebelled against it. When the Government-Gerneral of Taiwan carried out the census and announced “the Koko rule” in 1905, the basic structure of personal identity legal system in Taiwan is established.
Afetr the “the Koko rule” was made, Taiwanese people gradually got familiar with these laws for two reasons. One is that if they do not obey the laws, the courts would punish them. The other reason is that they must apply for the copies of Koko books for land registration. By this way, Taiwanese people got used to this legal system which was enforced by the police. Although Government-General of Taiwan revised the Koko rule in 1935, the koko system was still governed by the police. Beside the Koko system, there were two new ways of identification in Taiwan during the Japanese period: seal and biometric indicator. The former was often appilied for civil cases. The latter referred to fringerprint and other physical characteristics on human body, but this system was only applied on prisoners.
The KMT regime cam to Taiwan after the Japanese colonization ended in 1945, and it made somee effects on the legal system concerning personal identity in Taiwan. On the theroical aspect, the new household registration system should be praticed by the personnel of census office. However, the KMT authority combined the police with household registration in order to suppress the communist party of China. Besides, the government created the national identity card system to have every citizen in hand. Moreover, the government considered setting up a national fingerprint system. To sum up, the governmrnt regarded the identity and identification systems as tools to keep public security. The combination of police and household registration ended in1992 after the system of mobilization for suppressing the communist rebellion was over.
As the computer technology developed fast in the 1990s, the establishment of personal information database became feasible. The Legislative Yuan amended the Household Registration Law in 1997, and the amended article 8 asked every Taiwanese people to give thire fingerprint to the government. Eventually, the fingerprint database was not set up because this article was aginst the constitution. However, we should learn from the history and always remember the importance of information privacy.
Subjects
identity
identification
modern state
household registration
police
personal information
privacy
fingerprint
seal
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-99-R95a21007-1.pdf
Size
23.32 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):b4b83272a4727e340125b2ff3aebb87b