Legislation
MIIT Again Solicits Opinions on the Administrative Measures of Data Security in the Field of Industry and Information Technology (Trial)
On February 10, 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ("MIIT") released the Administrative Measures of Data Security in the Field of Industry and Information Technology (Trial) for public consultation. The draft is revised and improved by the MIIT based on the public comments received on the previous version, and is to solicit public opinions again, which should be returned by February 21, 2022. 1
Enforcement Authority
Procuratorial Organs Nationwide Have Prosecuted More Than 20,000 Defendants Suspected of Infringing Citizens' Personal Information Since 2019
On February 21, 2022, at a press conference held by the Supreme People's Procuratorate on "Adhering to the People-Centered Principle and Strengthening the Protection of Personality Rights under Criminal Law in Internet Era", Miao Shengming, member of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and Director of the First Procuratorate, delivered a report to the public that in recent years, the procuratorial organs have strengthened the protection of personality rights under criminal law. Miao said that the procuratorial organs have arrested 12,410 suspects and prosecuted 21,923 defendants for their behaviors of infringing citizens' personal information. 2
Eight Departments Jointly Issue Documents to Severely Punish Online Car-hailing Platforms for Violations of Laws and Regulations
On February 7, 2022, the Ministry of Transport, the MIIT, the Ministry of Public Security ("MPS"), the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration of Taxation, the SAMR, and the Cyberspace Administration of China ("CAC") jointly revised and released the Notice on Strengthening the Joint Supervision of the Entire Chain of the Online Taxi Booking Industry Before, During and After the Event, which aims to improve the supervision of illegal behaviors such as predatory pricing, endangering network security, big data discriminatory pricing, and infringing on the rights and interests of users' personal information. 3
Enforcement Cases
MPS Announces Ten Typical Cases of Cracking down on the Black Industry Chain of Internet Accounts
On February 24, 2022, the MPS announced ten typical cases of the "Breakout" operation, which was to crack down on the black industry chain of online accounts. In 2021, the MPS arrested more than 6,000 "moles" in the industry, destroyed and shut down more than 80 online platforms that received, encoded, unblocked and maintained online accounts and conducted illegal transactions, confiscated more than 10,000 cat pool and card pool equipment, and seized and closed more than 10 million online accounts involved. 4
MIIT Notifies the First Batch of APPs that Violated User Rights and Interests in 2022, Paying Attention to the Illegal Collection of Information by SDK
On February 18, 2022, the MIIT announced that it recently organized a third-party inspection of mobile Internet applications (APPs). By then, there were still 107 APPs that have not been rectified. At the same time, during the inspection, it was found that 13 embedded third-party software development kits (SDKs) illegally collected users' equipment information. 5
Cyberspace Administration of Zhejiang Notifies 38 Apps that Illegally Collected and Used Personal Information
This February, Zhejiang Provincial App's Special Governance Working Group for the Illegal Collection and Use of Personal Information, in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Law and other laws and relevant regulations, organized inspection of 100 Apps of utility tools, online shopping and other common types that are widely used by the public. The apps with problems were notified directly and ordered to rectify within a time limit. After re-testing and verification, there were still 38 Apps collecting and using personal information in violation of laws and regulations and have not been rectified as required. These Apps are now notified publicly. 6
Courts Litigation
Guangzhou Court: Merchant's Unauthorized Disclosure of Private Room Surveillance Video due to Bad Service Reviews Constitutes Infringement
This February, Guangzhou Internet Court handed down a verdict on an online infringement liability dispute caused by the "Script Killing" game and ruled that the defendant company should immediately delete Zhang and other personal account information, issue a statement of apology, and compensate the plaintiff Zhang and other two people the damage for mental distress of RMB 1,000 each. 7
Individual Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison, Individual and Company Both Fined over 10 Million for Crawling Resume Data of 210 Million Pieces
This February, Haidian District Procuratorate indicted a Beijing tech company, an individual Wang and others for the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ruled to uphold the original verdict, and the first-instance judgment of the case took effect. The defendant, the technology company, was imposed a fine of RMB 40 million. The defendant Wang was sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of RMB 10 million. The other defendants were sentenced to corresponding penalties. The amount of fine imposed on the defendant company and the sentence and the amount of fine imposed on the defendant individual in this case are the heaviest penalties imposed in similar cases throughout the nation in recent years. 8
Personal Information of 3.5 Million People Leaked Due to Quiz Contest to Win "Bing Dwen Dwen"
Since January this year, with the upsurge of the Winter Olympics, a scam under the guise of the "Winter Olympics knowledge dissemination" online quiz has spread online. Many college students participated in answering questions in response to the Winter Olympics Ambassador Honorary Certificate and the "Bing Dwen Dwen" figures promised by the event organizer, but they leaked personal information such as their names, ID numbers, and mobile phone numbers. Currently, the number of students involved in the case has reached more than 3.5 million. During the investigation, Nantong police found that the criminal gang had used informal industry associations and societies to carry out such online quiz-answering activities many times before. At present, the case is under further investigation. 9
Footnotes
1. https://www.miit.gov.cn/gzcy/yjzj/art/2022/art_d9a3a5efd4f64788b40c3af55d62e209.html
2. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/zdgz/202202/t20220221_545172.shtml
3. http://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2022/0216/c1004-32353282.html
4. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/h8-zn4SZZJupQXCEECc0jQ?scene=25#wechat_redirect
5. https://www.miit.gov.cn/jgsj/xgj/gzdt/art/2022/art_ad107d53a5fb45479a31a22a20990c33.html
6. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2CLBgy4qMxX3Sqa7sPcIjA?scene=25#wechat_redirect
7. https://www.chinacourt.org/article/detail/2022/02/id/6534183.shtml
8. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/cVJ53U1RTM7vFZrau81l5Q?scene=25#wechat_redirect
9. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ozJ1MkeQNhPEe23mVIfSrw?scene=25#wechat_redirect
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