Privacy
China's New Data Privacy Law: PIPL (Personal Information Protection Law)
August 20, 2021
The Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) is the new data privacy law in China, targeted at personal information protection and addressing the problems with personal data leakage.
The first draft of the PIPL was submitted to the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for review on 13 October 2020. There has been no official statement about when the law will come into effect. Industry figures suggest it could be as early as the start of 2022.
The draft PIPL sets out civil, administrative and criminal rules that provide protection of personal information. To some extent, the draft PIPL is inspired by international data protection laws such as GDPR, which in turn will render the PIPL itself more international.
As the first special law on personal information protection in China, the draft PIPL will have a significant impact on the activities of organisations and individuals dealing with personal information. The PIPL is not only applicable to organisations and individuals who process personally identifiable information (PII) in China, but also those who process data of China citizens' PII outside of China.
Scope of application
Under Art. 3 of the draft PIPL, the PIPL will apply to organisations and individuals located in and outside of China, who process personal information:
- for the purpose of providing products or services to individuals located within China;
- for the purpose of analysing or assessing individuals located within China; and
- in certain other situations, where required by applicable laws and regulations.
Although the current draft version is likely to be revised before it is finally enacted, some significant impacts on organisations can already be foreseen.
More stringent requirements in data transfer, mandatory requirements on security controls and data localisation, and increased penalties and fines on organisations upon violation are anticipated.
Are you and your business partners ready to support these changes?