Privacy in Vietnam

Do Hai Ha¹ and Le Thu Hien²

The right to privacy has existed in Vietnam since 1946. Since its first Constitution, Vietnam has recognized people's right to be secure in their persons, residences, correspondence, and telephone and telegraph communications. The Constitution also guarantees people's right against unlawful searches and seizures. Nonetheless, the legal framework for privacy remains underdeveloped and in practice, privacy is not seen to be important.

Though privacy remains a novel concept in Vietnam, it has gradually come to the public's attention since "doi moi"³ with the arrival of foreign investors in the early 1990s. The purpose of this article is (i) to examine the right of privacy in employment relations and in some selected commercial situations under Vietnamese law, and in light of that, (ii) to suggest some recommendations from a business perspective.