China’s internet security law goes into effect on Thursday
On Thursday, a Chinese law will come into force introducing strict rules for internet companies. For example, online service providers are not allowed to collect or resell personal data. China calls it an internet security law.
From the wording from the report of the Chinese news agency Xinhua, it is not completely clear which companies are targeted by the law. The organization writes that ‘online service providers should not collect data that is not relevant to their services’. In addition, individuals now have the right to ask service providers to delete their personal data in the event of misuse. If the companies do not comply with the rules, for example that collected data must be secured, they will be faced with ‘heavy fines’.
Reuters news agency wrote rather that the law applies to Chinese and foreign companies. Until now, China would not have had an overarching data protection law. In some respects, the new law goes further than comparable legislation in Europe or the US. For example, companies should only store data in China and they must comply with security controls. Initially, this obligation only applied to companies that manage ‘critical IT infrastructure’. Bloomberg reported recently that this obligation has been broadened in a new version of the law to ‘network operators’, which can mean a large group of companies.
Foreign IT companies, among others, wanted the introduction of the law to be postponed, so that they have more time to prepare for it. A proposal was to postpone the introduction until the end of 2018, but that has now been canceled. Civil rights organization Human Rights Watch previously stated that the law restricts freedom on the internet too much and that the Chinese government has barely adapted the law to criticism. The law also provides for the punishment of people and organizations that endanger internet security and harm ‘national security, honor and interests’. Online activities that fuel terrorism and extremism are also prohibited, as is the distribution of ‘obscene information’.