SCIO briefing on development of industry and information technology
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 3, 2021
Reuters:
How well does the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology believe Chinese technology companies are doing in protecting data privacy? What measures will the ministry take to strengthen data privacy and protection? For example, how will China ensure that apps no longer share personal information with a third party? Thank you.
Xiao Yaqing:
Thank you for your question. First of all, the Chinese government has always attached great importance to the protection of personal information. I think that as far as 2020 is concerned, it may be the best year in history for protection because we are in a process of continuous improvement. Secondly, we should see that information technology is developing very rapidly, and due to reform and opening up, the implementation of accommodative and prudential regulation, and our encouragement of innovation, we have been able to provide a wide variety of personal information service applications, and the public have gained a lot of convenience in all aspects of their lives. But at the same time, we have also seen that there are still many technologies for personal information application that need to be rapidly improved and strengthened. Take mobile phones that everyone uses as an example. The number of mobile apps is very large. According to incomplete statistics, some say the number exceeds 3.5 million, and even conservative estimates put it to be more than 2.5 million. So, it's unimaginable that there are now more than 2 million apps available for a person's mobile phone, like the one held by that reporter. So as for how to supervise, we have intensified management and remediation efforts in accordance with development and safety requirements over the years. You have also noticed that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched a special campaign on apps last year, and we have worked with other departments to carry out special campaigns on a variety of problems that the general public have lodged strong complaints about, such as problems concerning the microphone on the mobile phone and the communication address book in the mobile phone. Generally speaking, the effect of the campaigns is obvious. As requirements further enhance this year, we will continue such efforts, and work to ensure that the use of personal information must follow the principle of minimum requirement in the key areas that people have reported.
In the process of personal information protection, apps that refuse to accept rectification must be resolutely removed from the app stores. At the same time, as the supervisor, we must also improve our technological capabilities. First, we must be able to detect loopholes in information protection, so that the general public can use the apps with ease. For another example, it is very difficult to find the cross ("x") in advertisements that people don't like to see in many apps. Therefore, we will make sure that information harassment is blocked. If you are not willing to watch an advertisement, then it should be very obvious how to turn it off. We still receive many public complaints about such problems like other advertisements appearing before the Reuters page you want to see. I believe that the Chinese government's attitude toward protecting personal information is resolute, the law is constantly improving, and the level of technology is constantly improving. We must stick to our actions, and we will make sure everyone feels a sense of gain.
Here I would also like to announce a phone number that deals with complaints about unhealthy and spam information on the internet - 12321. If there is any problem, you can report it by calling 12321. This is also helpful for our work. Thank you.
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