China sets limits on personal data collection by live-streaming, short video-sharing services
- The Cyberspace Administration of China has drafted new rules to narrow the scope of user data collected by apps
- Twelve types of apps, including live-streaming and short video-sharing services, will be prohibited from gathering personal information for basic functions
Personal information gathered by live-streaming and short video-sharing services will be strictly limited, according to new rules introduced by Beijing, signalling the government’s determination to clean up unauthorised data collection by internet platforms.
The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet regulator, on Tuesday published the draft set of rules, which narrows the scope of user data collection by 38 common types of apps in the domestic market, such as instant messaging, online shopping, mobile payments, map navigation and online ride-hailing services.
Twelve of those types of apps, which include live-streaming and short video-sharing, will be prohibited from gathering even “necessary personal information” for providing basic functions like video playback and search.
The draft rules describe necessary personal information, including a user’s mobile number and location, as data that is “essential to ensuring the normal operation” of the apps.
“As long as the user agrees to the collection of the necessary personal information, the apps cannot refuse the user’s installation and use,” the rules said.
The draft rules represent the latest effort by China to strengthen personal privacy protection in the world’s largest internet market.