You go out for a meal. You use your phone to scan a QR code to order the food, but it asks for your phone number. You go back home and are asked to scan your face. Information collection is everywhere.
However, the personal information collected by companies can be leaked (泄露) for marketing or used for communications fraud (电信诈骗). According to a 2018 survey of 5,458 people by the China Consumers Association, 85.2 percent of people said they had experienced personal information leaks from apps on their smart phones. Most said they got unwanted calls or text messages afterwards.
To deal with such problems, on Nov 1", 2021, the Personal Information Protection Law (法规) was made in China. It is the first law on personal information protection.
The law says personal information is any kind of information that helps to identify people. So, a person's name, date of birth, ID number, address and phone number are all personal information.
There are also some kinds of personal information that are sensitive (敏感的): faces, medical health, and all information on people who are under the age of 14.
According to the law, collecting, using, storing and trading personal information will be strictly controlled. One key rule is that they should let users know and get their agreement before collecting personal information. The rules are even stricter for sensitive information. For example, if companies want the personal information of a kid, they must get agreement from their parents.
As common people, we must study the law carefully and use it when necessary. For example, we need to read the privacy policies (条款) carefully before using a service. If it's not necessary, don't agree to it. When we find that personal information has been used without agreement, we can report it to the China Consumers Association.
