China issues rules to stop apps from abusing user’s personal information in latest data privacy effort

More than 80 per cent of China’s internet users experienced data breaches in 2018 while more than one third of apps are prone to data safety risk

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With 5 million apps in use in the country, China is catching up with its western peers in efforts to protect netizens’ personal information. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:30pm, 31 Dec 2019Updated: 12:43pm, 15 Feb 2020

Chinese regulators have published new rules designed to prevent illegal collection and use of the personal information of app users, signalling the government’s determination to clean up unauthorised data collection by internet players.

The document, published jointly by China’s Cyberspace Administration, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, and State Administration for Market Regulation, provides a standard for identifying illegal collection and use of personal data by app developers.

The prohibited behaviours include the absence of published service regulations, failure to clarify the purpose and methods of data collection, collection and sharing of personal information without users’ consent and collection of user information not related to the service provided.

“The new rules generally cover all the blind spots for personal informational protection in relation to apps and draw a line for service providers,” said Liu Yuanxing, senior counsel at Beijing-based law firm, King & Partners. “It will help with the regulation of apps in China and help operators and distributors to self-regulate.”

Over the past year Chinese regulators have issued orders to the country’s app developers and third-party service providers to halt collection and use of personal data. Several apps related to finance, weather forecasting and retail were removed as part of a national crackdown on illegal data collection by internet companies. More than 80 per cent of China’s internet users experienced data breaches in 2018 while more than one third of apps in China are prone to data safety risk, according to a report by Xinhua News.