China rolls out new data law over 'national security' fears

China's caller information information instrumentality takes effect from Wednesday—the latest effort to tighten oversight of the country's mammoth tech sector.

The broadly worded instrumentality seeks to tighten the leash connected China's tech giants and what they bash with accusation from their hundreds of millions of users.

It besides comes arsenic fears turn implicit information security with authorities departments becoming progressively babelike connected unreality retention services.

Beijing has besides flagged national security concerns arsenic justification for the law. As Chinese tech firms look to subdivision retired overseas, authorities fearfulness home information volition extremity up successful overseas hands.

Here is simply a look astatine what we cognize astir the caller law:

What it does

The instrumentality lays down the responsibilities of each companies and organisations handling data.

It stipulates fines of up to 10 cardinal yuan ($1.55 million) for a scope of offences including leaks and failing to verify the individuality of buyers oregon sellers of information.

Its scope is broad, and includes information stored and handled wrong China's borders arsenic good arsenic information overseas that could harm China's nationalist information oregon the rights of its citizens.

Crucially, organisations and individuals are forbidden to manus implicit accusation to overseas instrumentality enforcement authorities without Beijing's permission.

This signals "there volition beryllium overmuch tighter power implicit cross-border information transfer", Angela Zhang, subordinate prof of instrumentality astatine the University of Hong Kong, told AFP.

The instrumentality besides affords Beijing the close to retaliate against immoderate overseas authorities utilizing "discriminatory" measures against China successful the information and tech sectors.

Detailed rules for the implementation of the instrumentality person not been published.

'National security'

The authorities besides identifies a caller "core" class of information "related to nationalist security, the lifeline of the nationalist economy, large aspects of the people's livelihood, and large nationalist interests", which volition beryllium taxable to stricter scrutiny.

There are mounting fears successful Beijing implicit the imaginable information risks of Chinese information ending up successful overseas hands.

The caller instrumentality comes months aft Beijing cited nationalist information concerns for a probe into US-listed tech elephantine Didi Chuxing.

Companies including larger Chinese tech firms volition beryllium "expected to enarthrosis much responsibilities successful fulfilling information information extortion obligations, and to transportation retired regular hazard assessments of their information processing activities", Zhang said.

Tech crackdown

The instrumentality takes effect arsenic unit mounts connected Chinese tech companies to autumn successful enactment aft years of breakneck growth.

China has antecedently attempted to halt large corporations from listing abroad, citing information information concerns.

On Friday The Wall Street Journal reported that China's banal marketplace regulator plans to artifact tech firms handling ample amounts of delicate idiosyncratic information from launching IPOs overseas.

The authorities launched cybersecurity probes earlier this twelvemonth into a fig of US-listed tech firms including Didi and truck-hailing level Full Truck Alliance.

The information information instrumentality could "create further regulatory hurdles for data-rich Chinese tech companies seeking to database overseas", Zhang told AFP.

Digital control

The data security instrumentality is portion of a acceptable of authorities that volition signifier China's integer system for decades.

These laws are being rolled retired arsenic "the tech assemblage becomes a cardinal arena amidst US-China rivalry, and whitethorn assistance widen China's power successful shaping tech policies crossed the globe," Kenn Yee, a argumentation expert astatine consultancy Access Partnership, told AFP.

The state precocious besides passed a idiosyncratic accusation extortion law, acceptable to go effectual successful November, aimed astatine curbing the postulation of idiosyncratic information by companies.

And a arguable cybersecurity instrumentality successful spot since 2017 codifies restrictions connected what net users tin people online—including thing that damages "national honour", "disturbs economical oregon societal order" oregon is aimed astatine "overthrowing the socialist system".

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© 2021 AFP