Passage of China Personal Information Protection Law... Additional Regulations on Big Tech

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] China is strengthening regulations and penalties on personal information collection.

According to Xinhua News Agency on the 20th, the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress of China passed the Personal Information Protection Law draft at its 30th meeting held that day. The law will take effect from November 1.

The main point is to strengthen regulations on the collection of personal information and impose penalties for unauthorized use.

It stipulates that no organization or individual shall illegally collect, use, or process personal information, nor sell or provide it to others.

When handling personal information, there must be a legitimate purpose, and processing must be appropriate to the purpose while minimizing the impact on individual rights and interests.

Separate approval is required when collecting sensitive personal information such as biometric data, medical health, financial accounts, and movement trajectories.

Programs that illegally process personal information may have their services temporarily suspended or permanently terminated.

China explains that these regulations were prepared in response to increasing damages caused by unauthorized collection of personal information, but some interpret them as targeting big tech companies.

Since the public government criticism by Alibaba founder Jack Ma in October last year, the Chinese government has been strengthening regulations on private enterprises in various fields such as private education and real estate, focusing on big tech companies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.