Stronger data protection legislation called for

Legal experts in China are calling for strengthened legislation on data protection and improved data security management to safeguard human rights in the digital age.

Lu Guangjin, deputy head of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, said the country has passed several laws on digital development, but due to a lack of legislation regarding rights and the protection of data ownership, there has been a negative impact on the normal flow of data, resulting in a continuous stream of disputes over data rights.

Lu made the remarks at a conference on protecting human rights in the digital age, which was held in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on Sunday.

He said the lack of adequate legislation "also results in the frequent infringement of individual rights, including rights to personality, reputation, privacy and copyright on the internet".

Sunday marked the 75th Human Rights Day, which was established to honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Nearly 100 experts and scholars from more than 20 of China's leading universities attended the conference, which was organized by the society and hosted by Southeast University's Institute for Human Rights.

Many of the experts and scholars agreed that the digital age has expanded and enriched the meaning of basic rights such as the right to life and development, as well as economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights.

Lu said it is estimated that by 2025, the world will generate and replicate 163 zettabytes (1ZB equals 1 trillion gigabytes) of data, which is 10 times the amount of data created in 2016.