China cracks down on personal information collection. No, seriously

Asia In Brief China last week commenced a crackdown on inappropriate collection and subsequent use of personal information.

The Middle Kingdom’s Cyberspace Administration, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly announced their intention to deepen enforcement of privacy laws by conducting a crackdown in six settings:

• Apps and mini-apps embedded in social media services. China worries operators don’t spell out rules for personal information collection, require permission to access users contacts or media files when that’s not necessary for an app’s functions, and don’t allow opting out or complaints.
• Software development kits that don’t include features that allow developers to bake privacy into their code.
• Wearables and smart home products that don’t inform users about the information they collect.
• Illegal use of facial recognition information in public places, or doing so without ...