To the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT),

In recent years, the leaking and selling of personal information in China has become a serious problem.

A certain number of apps and games scan their users’ personal information without authorization and upload it to their servers. If users want to use their applications, they have no choice but to accept default installation conditions.

In addition, through viruses, many hackers steal, tamper with or otherwise maliciously use personal information. An illegal industry chain of reselling personal information has formed.

On Dec 28, 2012, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed a resolution that regulated the collection and use of personal information. However, no details about how the new rules would be implemented were included; much less punishments.

MIIT should help in issuing laws and regulations to protect personal information. Those who want to collect personal information should register with relevant official departments and get a license. And government agencies should gather information with the written consent of constituents within their authority. Before information is gathered, users should be informed of everything concerning the method and purpose of the information collection.

Those who get access to personal information should keep it safe and not leak or transfer it to third parties. Those who fail to do so should be punished harshly.

A management system should be formulated to strengthen the safety of personal information and privacy, especially in areas like online banking, electronic business and online education.

Yang Yang(杨阳)
Original article: [Chinese]