A Year of Human Rights Covenants: Great Leap for Taiwan National Human Rights Commission, Taiwan of NHI data for use by a third party (including the use of such data for business purposes by government agencies or for research purposes by academic research institutions and other professional institutions) already exceeds the NHIA’s original purpose of data collection. Moreover, the various stipulations of the exceptions set out in subparagraph 4 of Article 6 paragraph 1 of the Personal Data Protection Act, are against the Constitution’s protection of the right to privacy. On April 26, 2021, the NHRC attended the oral argument of the case to express its opinion from the standpoint of international human rights norms. Citizens’ health and personal privacy are neither an all-in nor an all-out zero-sum game. Personal health data is critical to the correct diagnosis and prevention of disease by physicians, it is, thus, more sensitive than other types of private data. The progress of contemporary public health relies to a great extent on collecting, dealing with and using personal health data. Furthermore, statistics and the results of research are highly important for the health of the people. Nonetheless, even though the public interest is sought, yet there should be respect for the substantive right of protection of personal data of the persons concerned, through appropriate and concrete measures of protection. The NHRC pointed out that currently the legal rights afforded the health database are insufficiently precise, the demands for declassification are insufficiently clear, and whether the security of the relevant information and the material therein conform to the principle of least necessity accorded to a legally-approved task is unclear—all lack adequate systems of monitoring. Although administrative agencies lower the risk of leakage of private details by adopting relevant orders, yet, given the inadequacy of the existing legal framework and the limited protection of privacy, to completely deprive a concerned party from withdrawing personal data violates the principle of proportionality. ▋ The NHRC at the Taiwan Constitutional Court as an expert witness. National Human Rights Commission 2022 Annual Report 43