Author:
Tran Phuong Nam – Lawyer
Tran Nguyen Phuong Thanh – Paralegal
The recently promulgated legal regulations, which are set to take effect in the near future, mark a major turning point in Vietnam’s legal framework governing cyberspace and the digital economy, including: the Law on Personal Data Protection 2025, the Cybersecurity Law 2025, the E-commerce Law 2025, and Decree 356/2025/ND-CP. This transition places e-commerce enterprises under the urgent requirement to comprehensively restructure their data management systems. Below is a summary of the key legal framework and a set of compliance solutions for enterprises.
1. Legal Framework for Personal Data Management on E-commerce Platforms
In the course of their operations, e-commerce platforms frequently collect and analyze large volumes of basic personal data (such as full names, phone numbers) as well as sensitive personal data (such as bank card information, passwords, transaction history). These categories are classified as basic personal data and sensitive personal data in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 and Article 4 of Decree 356/2026/ND-CP. The processing of these data groups requires enterprises to implement specific and stringent security procedures.
Regarding business conditions, enterprises providing personal data processing services are required to obtain a Certificate of eligibility for personal data processing services business, issued by the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05) under the Ministry of Public Security, prior to officially providing services to the market. Concurrently, if trading in cybersecurity products and services, enterprises also need the corresponding licenses from the Ministry of Public Security or the Government Cipher Committee of Vietnam for civil cryptographic products, pursuant to the provisions of the Cybersecurity Law 2025 and Decree 211/2025/ND-CP.
Besides licensing requirements, enterprises must satisfy strict standards concerning personnel and infrastructure. Specifically, organizations are required to have an official decision appointing a data protection personnel or department, who possesses at least an associate degree and has a minimum of two years of relevant professional experience.
In terms of infrastructure, the enterprise’s information system must be classified into security risk levels from Level 1 to Level 5 to establish corresponding technical protection measures in accordance with the Cybersecurity Law 2025. In particular, the law explicitly stipulates the reporting timeframe when an incident occurs: enterprises must report cybersecurity incidents to the Ministry of Public Security within a maximum of 24 hours (or 03 hours if it threatens national security). Furthermore, enterprises must report personal data breach incidents no later than 72 hours from the time of discovery.
2. Identification of Legal and Practical Risks
Operational reality indicates that numerous enterprises are still committing serious violations, typically including the storage of sensitive data in plaintext format, a lack of independent backup mechanisms, or violations of data storage regulations in Vietnam when utilizing foreign cloud servers. The failure to prepare a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) report, the absence of a cybersecurity monitoring system, or the deliberate concealment of incidents are also evaluated by regulatory agencies as serious violations.
In terms of sanctions, these acts can lead to fines of up to 03 billion VND under the Law on Personal Data Protection 2025, or a maximum administrative fine of 200 million VND in the cybersecurity sector, in addition to potential license revocation and suspension of business operations.
Notably, the practical consequences that enterprises must endure often far exceed administrative fines. The ransomware attacks against VNDirect and PVOIL in March and April 2024 illustrate this risk in March and April 2024, the most substantial damage was the disruption of supply chain continuity, enormous costs to hire decryption experts, customer compensation, and a severe decline in market capitalization on the stock market (such as VNDirect losing approximately VND 1.8 trillion in market capitalization within just a few days).
3. Compliance Solutions
Regulatory compliance is no longer an isolated issue for the information technology department but a comprehensive organizational effort. For organizations and enterprises in Vietnam operating on e-commerce platforms, it is necessary to synchronously implement the following groups of solutions:
- Risk Management and Governance: Ensuring the transparency of the Privacy Policy, guaranteeing the principle of collecting data only with explicit consent from customers. Simultaneously, proactively preparing and filing the Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) report to the Ministry of Public Security.
- Technical Protection & Storage: Applying fundamental cybersecurity standards, avoiding the storage of sensitive data in easily compromised formats. Establishing an independent backup mechanism to maintain system recovery capabilities when attacked by malware and conducting a cross-border data transfer impact assessment if storing data on foreign servers.
- Monitoring & Response: Internal monitoring activities must be tightened through strict access control and role-based authorization to prevent employees from stealing and trading data. When an incident occurs, enterprises must absolutely not conceal it but proactively report it to the competent authorities and users within the statutory timeframe.
4. Conclusion
The completion of the 2025–2026 legal framework marks a robust effort by the State to enhance the transparency of the data market in cyberspace and on e-commerce platforms. Data management is now no longer purely a technical problem but has become a core element determining competitiveness and sustainable development. Proactively reviewing licensing procedures, strictly complying with impact assessment reports, and investing in upgrading cybersecurity monitoring systems constitute the strategic orientation that helps e-commerce enterprises prevent risks, avoid repeating the compliance failures revealed by previous incidents, and thereby firmly consolidate trust with consumers.
Time of writing: June 04, 2026
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You can refer for more information:
- Cross-Border Cash Flow Management: Legal Considerations For Repatriating Profits To Vietnam
- Foreign ownership barriers: What FDI Investors need to note before contributing capital to Vietnamese enterprises
- Cross-border E-commerce and Compliance Requirements for International Brands
- Legal Framework on Support for Innovative Startup Enterprises
