Chinese internet security law comes into effect on Thursday
A Chinese law will come into effect on Thursday 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.
It is not entirely clear from the wording of the report from the Chinese news agency Xinhua which companies the law targets. 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 have to deal with ‘heavy fines’.
Reuters news agency previously wrote that the law applies to Chinese and foreign companies. Until now, China would not have had an overarching data protection law. The new law goes in some ways beyond comparable legislation in Europe or the US. For example, companies should only be allowed to store data in China and must comply with security controls. Initially, this obligation only applied to companies that manage ‘critical IT infrastructure’. Bloomberg recently reported that in a new version of the law, this obligation has been extended 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 turned out not to be the case. 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 regulates 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 dissemination of ‘obscene information’.