China curbs abuse of personal data by online travel platforms

BEIJING - China has issued a regulation strictly prohibiting the misuse of personal information by online travel platforms, with the aim of protecting the rights and interests of consumers.

The provisional regulation on online tourism service issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will take effect on Oct 1. It bans operators of online travel platforms from abusing big data and other technical means to set unfair transaction terms based on the records and travel preferences of users.

Online tourism platforms are required to strengthen the examination and verification of text, pictures, audio and video uploaded to the platforms to ensure the safety of the content, according to the regulation.

The platforms should not block or delete tourists' comments about products and services without permission, and should not mislead people, write bogus reviews by themselves or force tourists to make evaluations, the regulation says.

The document also includes measures on supporting the business resumption in the tourism industry.