
Photo: IC Photo
Using a mobile app may pose threat to people’s privacy, and regulators are moving to fix it.
A cybersecurity watchdog recently released draft guidelines to regulate personal information collection by mobile apps in an effort to curb widespread violations of privacy on mobile platforms.
The guidelines, drafted by the National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee, clarify practices that would be deemed illegal information collection, including accessing personal information without users’ approval, mandatory authorization for personal data use and excessive collection of data. The committee is collecting public comments on the guidelines till May 26.
A previous survey of 200 apps by Beijing-based Renmin University found that more than 90% have flaws in their privacy policies and pose risks to users’ personal data.
Academics suggested that China speed up legislation and set up a unified supervisory framework to govern privacy protection on the internet.
Related: China Names 14 Apps That ‘Excessively Seek User Data’


