Personal information law to require informed consent

The owners of personal information should be fully informed about its handling, including its collection, storage and use, and asked for their permission, according to a draft law on personal information protection.

The draft of China's first special legislation on safeguarding personal information was submitted to the bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the country's top legislature, for a first review on Tuesday.

It stipulates that personal information owners have the right to withdraw their permission for information collection, storage, use, processing, transmission and disclosure.

If individuals or organizations need to refresh personal information for users of their products or services, they should ask for the users' permission again, the draft says.

Liu Junchen, deputy director of the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, said it drafted the law because some personal information is being improperly collected, abused or illegally purchased.

China has intensified efforts to safeguard personal information in recent years through the Civil Code, Cybersecurity Law and E-Commerce Law, but Liu said it was "difficult to meet people's increasing demands in the fast developing internet era".

The draft aims to strengthen the protection of personal information and make legal recourse more practical and systemic, he added.

Draft seeks to lower age of criminal responsibility to 12 Aerial view of Longji terraced fields in Longsheng County, Guangxi