Provisions on the Standard Contract for the Cross-border Transfers of Personal Information

On September 28, 2023, the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) issued draft Provisions on Standardizing and Promoting Cross-Border Data Flows (Draft for Comment) (规范和促进数据跨境流动规定（征求意见稿）) (draft “Provisions”) (Chinese version available here) for a public consultation, which will conclude on October 15, 2023. 

The draft Provisions propose significant changes to the existing cross-border data transfer regime established under China’s Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”).  Specifically, the draft Provisions provide certain exemptions to the requirement to adopt a transfer mechanism under Article 38 of the PIPL. In addition, the draft Provisions significantly lower the thresholds that trigger the obligation to undergo a government-administered security assessment or adopt Standard Contracts.  Moreover, in the event of a conflict between the draft Provisions and the PIPL’s implementing regulations (including the Measures on the Standard Contract for the Cross-Border Transfer of Personal Information and the Measures for Security Assessment of Cross-Border Data Transfer), the draft Provisions would prevail.Continue Reading China Proposes Significant Changes to Cross-Border Transfer Rules

After more than seven months since China’s Personal Information Protection Law (《个人信息保护法》, “PIPL”) went into effect, Chinese regulators have issued several new (draft) rules over the past few days to implement the cross-border data transfer requirements of the PIPL.  In particular, Article 38 of the PIPL sets out three legal mechanisms for lawful transfers of personal information outside of China, namely: (i) successful completion of a government-led security assessment, (ii) obtaining certification under a government-authorized certification scheme, or (iii) implementing a standard contract with the party(-ies) outside of China receiving the data.  The most recent developments in relation to these mechanisms concern the standard contract and certification.Continue Reading Cross-Border Data Transfer Developments in China