China's top internet regulator releases new personal information guidelines

China's top internet regulator issued a guideline on Friday aiming to better protect personal information by specifying procedures and requirements for providing such information overseas.

The 13-article guideline, which requires personal information processors to sign standard contracts with the information receivers overseas, has been disclosed on the website of the Cyberspace Administration of China, with a sample contract attached available for download.

The administration said that the guideline is made to face a rapid growth of digital economy and an increasing demand of outbound personal information, adding that it will come into force on June 1.

The guideline is also to implement the Personal Information Protection Law, which took effect in November 2021, and further regulate activities of outbound information, it said.

Under the guideline, personal information processors are ordered to carry out a data protection assessment before providing them abroad, and the assessment should mainly include the scale, range, variety and sensitivity of the information ready to be provided overseas as well as whether the information receivers are able to guarantee the security of the outbound data.