Caixin Explains: Four Chinese Laws That Can Help People Protect Their Personal Information

When ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc. was fined last week for cyber and data security breaches — including illegal collection of facial information — it sent an 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) signal to the Chinese public that user data infringements are taken seriously.

As China ramps up its legal protection of personal data, large-scale personal information collection and processing may violate the law if done without users’ informed consent. The country’s top prosecutor reported 2,000 public interest cases (link in Chinese) regarding personal information in 2021, a nearly threefold increase from the previous year.