Lawyers say control needed against cybercrime

Some lawyers see control of cybercrime, which normally concerns foreign jurisdictions, as necessary and that law-enforcement entities should find ways to gather digital evidence.
The comment was made during a seminar held as part of this year’s Lawyer’s Day. Several lawyers, as well as officials from the Personal Data Protection Office (GPDP) and the Judiciary Police (PJ) spoke at the event.
Lawyer José Filipe Salreta, who spoke at the seminar, is supportive of the Cyber Security Law. He also introduced the legislation background of the Personal Data Protection Law.
Meanwhile, Iu Ian, senior technical officer at the GPDP, pointed out that handling of personal data exists in various aspects. She added that the current legislation is not enough. She hoped in future there will be more specific laws on personal data protection in each aspect.
She recommended the public to take measures, such as changing computer passwords regularly and avoid using public WIFI for confidential matters so as to protect their own personal data.
Meanwhile, Ho Weng Kin, head of the Cyber Security Division of the PJ, stressed that the PJ is not legally permitted to store, restore or even view the obtained cyber data. The entity may only view the size of the data flow and the characteristics of known hacker activities.
Lawyer Sou Sio Kei pointed out that cybercrime normally takes place outside of Macau, meaning that it involves foreign jurisdictions, laws and regulations. There have been difficulties for local law-enforcement entities in obtaining evidence or details from foreign entities.
Sou thought it was important to raise awareness across the globe and determine a shared standard among various jurisprudence. He stressed that the cyberworld should not become a utopia for violators. He hopes for more work to be done on policing collaborations and, in a better case, international covenant and judicial collaborations.