China announced on August 20 the adoption of a personal information protection law, effective November 1, 2021, to strengthen the protection of personal privacy in the digital age.
Service providers that push information and commercial marketing to individuals through automated decision-making shall provide options that do not target their personal characteristics or provide convenient ways to reject them, according to the law.
Service providers shall obtain consent from individuals before processing sensitive personal information such as biometric, medical health, financial accounts, and whereabouts traces.
Applications that handle personal information in violation of the law will be suspended or terminated from continuing to provide services.
Service providers that process sensitive personal information such as face information shall not collect excessive information.
The law also regulates the installation of image capture and personal identification devices in public places.
In addition, large Internet platforms shall establish a sound system of personal information protection compliance.
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