New Chinese Rule Requires Government Approval Before Companies Can Transfer Important Data Abroad

The Associated Press reports: Companies in China would need government approval to transfer important data abroad under proposed rules announced Friday that would tighten Beijing’s control over information and might disrupt operations for international corporations… President Xi Jinping’s government sees information about China’s 1.4 billion people as a potential security risk in private hands. It has issued a flurry of rules tightening control over how companies gather and handle information… Companies that want to transfer important data abroad would have to report on how much and what type of information is involved and security measures, according to the CAC. Regulators would decide within a week whether to accept that or conduct their own review, which could last up to 60 days. The rules would apply to transfers that involve “sensitive personal information” of at least 10,000 people or any company that handles information on more than 1 million people… Rules imposed earlier prohibit companies from storing information about Chinese citizens abroad. That prompted complaints that global companies are put at a disadvantage because they can’t combine information from China with other countries, while Chinese competitors can collect all their data at their headquarters… Unlike data protection laws in Western countries, the Chinese rules say nothing about limiting government or ruling Communist Party access to personal information. Read more of this story at Slashdot.