Law in works to put personal data under better virtual lock and key

THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY has recently published a draft regulation on internet security supervision for public opinions. The draft stipulates that the internet service providers face a penalty of up to 1 million yuan ($159,000) if they are found to have engaged in the illegal transaction of personal information, even if their action does not result in any crime or yield a cent in illegal gains. Legal Daily comments:

The leaking of personal information is a chronic disease of the information age. Even leading global players are not immune to it, with Facebook in the spotlight recently over users' data being harvested for political purposes without their knowledge.

It has become a conventional practice for app or software providers to require users give them consent to access their personal information before allowing them to use their products.