These useful software pieces can satisfy all demands of users in their daily life activities, and are changing many habits of citizens now.

Smart phones now have useful apps to aid people in their daily activities. (Photo: SGGP)

“What shall we eat today, Mom?”, asked Thu Van’s little boy in his text message to his mother, who is still in the middle of her busy work. She then worry-free ordered a nutritious meal for her family via an app on her mobile phone as she had no time to cook.

This familiar situation is happening more and more in Vietnam, when mobile apps can provide great convenience for users living in urban areas, who are usually too busy with their heavy workload.

Vice President of Adjust Co. (specializing in measuring mobile apps) April Tayson commented that 2022 is the year of mobile app blooming, ranging from complex digital financial services to safe e-wallets. This also means more competitions among apps to retain their customers for a long time.

The Mobile App Trends Report 2021 for APAC reveals that for the first half of 2021, Vietnam witnessed an increase in app downloading and installation to 43 percent compared to 27 percent in 2020.

In addition, when the Covid-19 pandemic happens, people tend to switch to mobile apps to carry out their daily activities like food ordering. This leads to an inevitable trend of using cashless payment to the extent that experts have predicted in 2023, only 15 percent of e-commerce transactions are paid by cash since bank transfers, card payments, and e-wallets will be more desirable.

At present, Vietnam is in the top 12 countries with the cheapest Internet rates in the world, at only US$11.27 per month. As a result, the Internet is increasingly used in the whole nation.

CEO of an online marketing company in Vietnam commented that smart phones are the most preferable choice for Internet connections thanks to their convenience and popularity, as well as proper developments of infrastructure to accelerate the Internet speed, making Vietnam the second in ASEAN in this matter.

Currently, about 70 percent of the Vietnamese population are using their own smart phones, 64 percent of which have established 3G or 4G connections.

Statistics from the Ministry of Information and Communications also show that the quantity of mobile subscriptions in Vietnam reaches over 123 million; among them are 90.3 million with a smart phone. The number of people from 15 years old using a smart phone is 53.5 million. That means the market for mobile apps is truly promising and lucrative in the upcoming time.

Director of Nam Truong Son Information Security Co. Ngo Tran Vu said that a smart device contains various kinds of sensitive personal information such as email addresses, financial transaction data. Therefore, mobile security right in the first installation time is mandatory to ensure no illegal can steal these confidential information pieces.

Also, whenever installing a new app, users are advised to carefully review privacy requests of that app like access to contacts, gallery. Users should limit these requests to effectively protect their privacy.

Source: Sai Gon Giai Phong

Legal gaps exist on protection of personal data in Vietnam

"There are still legal gaps on personal data protection that need to be filled in in the coming time," Dr. Chu Thi Hoa, deputy director of the Institute of Legal Sciences (Ministry of Justice) told VietNamNet.

Heavy sanctions needed to prevent illegal trade of personal data

The personal data of many Vietnamese users is being illegally appropriated and even traded in the cyberspace.