China is planning to introduce its first law on protecting personal data, amid rising anger at how easily people's private details are falling into the hands of advertisers, state media reported on Monday.
Such a law has become necessary in China as more and more people find their personal information, such as mobile phone numbers, home addresses and even medical records, disclosed to unauthorised parties, the China Daily said.
A draft law, which has been submitted to the cabinet, sets out the legal duties of companies and other entities that have personal data, Zhou Hanhua, who helped draw-up the legislation, was quoted as saying.
The planned law bans any entity from disclosing personal data to third parties without the consent of individuals and specifies that they have the duty to ensure the data in their possession is not misused. However there are exceptions when such information may be disclosed to third parties, such as in criminal, tax or media investigations.
"These days it's quite common for people to receive advertising via phone calls, text messages or emails," the China Daily said in an editorial.
"What's worrying is how their personal information falls into the hands of strangers... it is high time to legislate to protect our personal information." There is no law in China, which currently protects personal data. Moreover, individuals have no right to access their personal files such as banking and credit records. Zhou said the planned law was expected to come into force next year.
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