Note: I wrote this piece in May 2022 as part of a comprehensive CAC report by DigiChina project. Unfortunately, the report did not progress as planned, so I am now sharing my writing here. I would like to thank Johanna Costigan and Graham Webster for editing it. In China’s personal data regulation regime, quite a few government authorities have been playing a role, and the Cyberspace...
It is no longer new to say that artificial intelligence (AI) needs free flow of data. Data feeds AI systems, enabling them to learn patterns from the data, solve new problems, and keep evolving. To what extent this process can be optimized largely depends on its capability of obtaining huge volumes of diversified and up-to-date data. This is how free flow of data can help AI. As explained below...
A recent report from the UK’s privacy regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), warned that organizations participating in the real-time bidding (RTB) system, a major business mode adopted by the online targeted advertising industry, should not rely on “legitimate interests” under the GDPR Article 6 to justify their data processing. RTB is a complex automated ad exchange...
In the past ten days, the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) released two important draft rules, the Measures of Cybersecurity Review (网络安全审查办法(征求意见稿)) and the Measures of Data Security Management (数据安全管理办法(征求意见稿)), seeking public comments. (DigiChina of New America has translated both of them into English: here and here.) Within China’s law hierarchy, a title with “Measures” generally...
I recently wrote for New America an annual review of the legislative and regulatory developments in China regarding personal information protections, online content regulations, and government scrutiny on cyber-related products and services. Here is the link.
Both China and the European Union take “consent” an important element in protecting personal information. Under the GDPR, consent is one required legal base – among others – to process personal information. China’s Cybersecurity Law, which is currently the overarching law in this field in China, requires network operators to obtain user consent before collecting and using their personal...
