New Chinese law to impose more personal information protection duties on internet giants

BEIJING, April 26 (Xinhua) -- A new draft law submitted to China's top legislature for review has proposed imposing more requirements related to personal information protection on the country's big internet platforms.

The draft law on personal information protection on Monday returned to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) for a second reading.

According to the draft, big internet platforms that possess the personal information of a large number of users must set up an independent body mainly composed of outsiders to supervise how the information is handled.

The internet giants are also required to publish social responsibility reports on personal information protection on a regular basis.

How big internet platforms collect and use personal information is always opaque, said Zuo Xiaodong, vice president of the China Information Security Research Institute.

The new stipulations, which will put the big internet firms under the independent supervision of the public, are innovations that explore new regulatory measures to protect user data on internet platforms, Zuo said.

Targeting prominent problems in the sector such as the lack of transparency in collecting and using user data, the draft also bans "coercive" measures in handling personal information.

Internet platforms shall use the minimum amount of personal information possible in ways that have minimum impact on the rights and interests of users, according to the draft.

Lawmakers will deliberate the draft in group discussions during the ongoing session of the NPC Standing Committee, which runs from Monday to Thursday.