Vietnam forces Facebook and Google to pick privacy or growth

epa04901364 (FILE) A file picture dated 28 November 2013 shows a man using the social networking site Facebook on his phone at a cafe in Hanoi, Vietnam. More than one billion people logged into the social media network Facebook in one day, marking a new record for the company, said Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on 27 August 2015. The 31-year-old entrepreneur said the milestone was the 'beginning of connecting the whole world,' according to a message on his Facebook site. EPA/LUONG THAI LINH

Vietnam’s new cybersecurity law could force Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc to choose between access to one of Asia’s fastest-growing digital economies and protecting their users’ privacy. 

The law, which goes into effect Jan 1 after the National Assembly passed it this month, requires foreign Internet companies to store data within the country and open local offices. If requested, they’ll also be required to hand over to the government the data of users suspected of anti-state activity – including spreading news that may impede Hanoi or hurt the economy.