TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The National Federation of Teachers Unions (全國教師工會總聯合會, NFTU) demanded on Monday (Dec. 22) the withdrawal of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's (衛福部) "Surveillance Cloud" plan. They emphasized that preventing child abuse should focus on "prevention" rather than post-incident monitoring. The union urged the ministry to halt digital surveillance of children and childcare workers.
Recently, Taiwan's legislature, the Legislative Yuan's (立法院) Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee (社福及衛環委員會) reviewed the draft "Childcare Services Act" (兒童托育服務法). Lawmakers reached a consensus that required childcare facilities to install surveillance equipment and upload the footage to the "Surveillance Cloud." The NFTU strongly condemned both the ministry and the Legislative Yuan for advancing this policy within the specialized childcare law.
The NFTU stressed that infants and toddlers possess independent rights. The mandatory upload of their daily life images to a central server would imply that private moments, such as physiological needs, emotional expressions, and activities like changing or bathing, would be indiscriminately archived by the government. The union argued that this action violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child's (兒童權利公約) privacy protections and poses a potential threat to the personal development of young children.
The union criticized the ministry's requirement for "comprehensive uploads" and potential "spot checks" of footage, an approach that treats all childcare workers as potential child abuse suspects. This stance, according to the NFTU, undermines the professional dignity and personal rights of childcare workers.