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The Path to Data Protection Governance in China Mainland

A peer-reviewed version of this preprint was published in:
Electronics 2024, 13(10), 1905. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13101905

Submitted:

09 April 2024

Posted:

09 April 2024

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Abstract
In the age of the digital economy, the security and privacy for multimedia systems issues are increasingly manifested in the form of data. The level of data protection governance capability determines whether the security and privacy of multimedia systems can be protected. In recent years, China has introduced laws and regulations on the protection of personal information, personal privacy, data security, and cyber-security. Although data protection is still to be improved, China has been refining the provisions on data security management through practice and the adoption of supporting regulations.
Keywords: 
;  ;  ;  
Subject: 
Social Sciences  -   Law
The regulation of Internet technology with artificial intelligence, social media, big data and other technologies, while promoting social development, has also brought unprecedented risks and challenges to human society. Today, China remains the world's most populous country [1], by June 2023, with more than 1.08 billion Internet users. Meanwhile, internet penetration had increased to 76.4 percent. From the beginning of the Internet in China was only used in the field of education and scientific research, but nowadays, the Internet has become a necessary tool for socializing, office and leisure. More and more people enjoy the convenience brought by the development of digital technology. However, the security and privacy for multimedia systems issues brought about by the continuous development of Internet technology have attracted more and more attention.
In recent years, the Chinese government continues to promote digital industrialization and industrial digitization. As the digital economy has become an important part of the economy and society, the data security risks have penetrated into all aspects of human life and work. With the development of digital technology, the issue of security and privacy for multimedia systems such as personal information, personal privacy, and trade secret are constantly presented in the form of data. Finally, data security issues come thick and fast, making it is no longer ignorable in the process of digital economic development in China. The key to solving this series of problems lies in the governance of data security.

1. China's Data Security Continues to be Emphasized in Mainland

Since the 13th Five-Year Plan, China has continued to develop the digital economy, improved its digital infrastructure, accelerated the cultivation of new business forms and models, and achieved positive results in promoting the industrialization of digital industries and the digitization of industries. By 2023, the added value of the core industries of the digital economy is account for 8.5 percent of China's gross domestic product, and the digital economy provided a powerful impetus for sustained and healthy economic and social development.
At the same time, various types of personal information are important source of data and the main component. Enterprises can achieve the innovative development of goods, and provide personalized services for consumers through collecting massive data. However, the collection and use of data should not be borderless. Coupled with recurring risks like information leakage, data leakage, privacy infringement, and so on from time to time, data security has become an imperative concern in the development of the digital economy.
With the advancement of algorithms, the increase of arithmetic power, the continuous emergence of digital products such as instant messaging software, online shopping platforms, and online travel software, and the emergence of new products and new forms of business, the relationship between citizens and Internet platforms is getting closer. As a result, data containing users' personal information, citizens' privacy and even commercial secrets are constantly exposed to Internet platforms. In the era of the digital economy, the issue of data security and privacy protection has become particularly prominent.
The digital era has not only revolutionized traditional security and privacy protection, but also brought unprecedented challenges to security and privacy protection. Based on the characteristics of the digital era, security and privacy protection, along with data security issues are mutually exclusive, and the focus of the Chinese government's regulation of security and privacy protection is data security governance. And the key to data security governance lies in the protection of security and privacy, which mainly encompasses the security of personal information, privacy security, and national security issues.
One of the important features of the digital era is that data have become an important factor of production. Nowadays, data is gradually becoming ubiquitous and pervasive, and becoming the "blood" of active beating in cyberspace. In fact, the identities, properties, and activities of all kinds of subjects are presented in the form of data, which determines that the data has multiple legal attributes. Data security is the concentration of personal information, privacy and even national security, while personal information and privacy protection are specific manifestations of data security. For this reason, the governance of security and privacy protection issues needs to be based on the characteristic of "data".

3. Data Security Governance Practices in China Mainland

Over the past decade, China's efforts in addressing data security issues have not only made certain achievements at the level of institutional construction but also. With the implementation of relevant laws and regulations, the Chinese government has also accumulated a wealth of practical experience in data security governance. As China's attention to data security and privacy protection continues to deepen, China has responded in the process of governing data security issues from three latitudes: legislation, law enforcement, and justice.

3.1. Legislative Practice and Achievements

In legislative practice, China has continuously insisted on improving relevant laws and regulations to provide more comprehensive protection for data security, which is mainly reflected in the Civil Code, Criminal Law, Data Security Law, Personal Information Protection Law, Cybersecurity Law and other legislations. As mentioned above, China has regulated the infringement of data security at different levels of civil, administrative and criminal liability, and the promulgation and implementation of the Data Security Law has filled the gap in China's data security protection legislation and pointed out the development direction for the establishment of a sound data security governance system. There are some differences between the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law. Moreover, the Data Security Law aims to safeguard data security in terms of national security and social public interests. The Personal Information Protection Law, on the other hand, focuses on the security of personal information and is more focused on private rights and interests, and it is designed to safeguard the privacy, personality, property and other interests of individual citizens. The two laws complement each other and improve China's protection of various types of data.
In addition, at the legislative level, China has also focused on strengthening the connection between specific systems and the overall governance framework. This effort includes reinforcing connections with the Cybersecurity Law and other laws in terms of basic definitions, data security management, data categorization and classification, and the exit of important data, in order to improve the construction of China's legal system for data governance.

3.2. The Administrative Law Enforcement and Improvement

The issue of data security is fundamental to the development of the digital economy, a view that is particularly evident in law enforcement practices involving data security. In the context of the digital economy, one of the most significant features of platform operators is the possession of massive amounts of data, and the manner in which platform enterprises handle and utilize data impacts whether data security can be protected. In administrative enforcement practice, on July 21, 2022, China's National Internet Information Office imposed the fine of over 8 billion yuan ($1.19 billion) on ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc in accordance with the Cybersecurity Law, the Data Security Law, the Personal Information Protection Law, and the Administrative Penalties Law. It marked the highest fine imposed in China on an operator for a violation of data security. The illegal activities mainly include illegal collection of 11.9639 million pieces of screenshot information from users' mobile phone photo albums; excessive collection of 8.323 billion pieces of user clipboard and application list information, excessive collection of 167 million pieces of precise location information, inaccurate and unclear explanation of 19 personal information handling purposes and other illegal activities.
Since 2021, China's law enforcement departments at all levels of net information and other law enforcement agencies have carried out law enforcement in the field of data security in accordance with the law. In response to the serious problem of illegal collection and use of personal information by dozens of mobile apps such as Didi, notified platform operators notified to take down the relevant apps in accordance with the law, and were required to strictly comply with the legal requirements for safeguarding the security of users’ information.
In addition, the establishment of China's National Data Bureau in 2023 marks a new stage in China's efforts to utilize, protect, develop and regulate data elements. It also means that the administrative authorities will continue to enhance Cybersecurity Law enforcement in the field of data security. Main problems of law enforcement in the field of data security that will be addressed, which includes that platforms operators engage in serious illegal and unlawful collection, and use of personal information through coercion, enticement, fraud, and other illegal means. In addition, Additionally, attention will be directed towards operators fail to carry out security assessments as required and having potential security problems, among other things will be focused on.

2.3. Judicial Practice and Emphasis

In judicial practice, China's governance of data security is mainly reflected in the punishment of crimes related to data security. These data-related crimes generally include a wide range of criminal acts relating to personal information, privacy rights and other legal good. Through searches, the scope of “data” as the object of crimes includes not only traditional property such as network virtual property and cryptocurrency, which are associated with property crimes, but also personal information such as candidate information and household registration information, which can identify specific natural individuals. There is an overlapping between data related crimes and traditional crimes in terms of the scope of infringement, such as the act of generating virtual currencies for profit by cracking the instruction codes of virtual currency service providers [11]. Or the act of collecting victims’ personal information ( including users’ name, ID number, bank card number, and phone number) through database cracking [12].
Although laws such as the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law have their own focus on protecting different types of data in their legislation, the concept of "data" is often interpreted broadly in the context of data crimes. This is because personal information and privacy are often carried as "data", and there is an overlapping between the various concepts. The concept of "data" is often interpreted broadly. Especially in the digital age, the intertwining of data and personal information, privacy and even national security are becoming more and more obvious, making it is difficult to distinguish them in judicial practice. Moreover the protection of the rights and interests of all of them is categorized under the protection of data security, which is also the path of the current judicial practice in China Mainland.

4. China's Data Security and Privacy Protection Path

4.1. Improvement of Laws and Regulations

In recent years, China has actively explored the field of data security, and has regulated data security issues including personal information, privacy protection, national security and many other issues through legislation. The enactment and implementation of a series of laws and regulations, such as the Civil Code, the Personal Information Protection Law, and the Cybersecurity Law, have effectively solved some of the data security problems that need to be addressed, and have provided a good framework for the rule of law for the development of the data industry. However, in the process of practice, there are still many places that need to be optimized and improved in order to address the data security issues.
In terms of legislative refinement, the Data Security Law, for example, still needs to be strengthened in terms of clarifying the main security risks faced by each type of data exit, as well as in terms of fine-grained governance. Furthermore, there are deficiencies in terms of dynamically responding to changes in internal and external data security risks [13]. Although the Data Security Law puts forward principled requirements for designing a security risk system in the flow of data, it does not put forward targeted measures for security risks in the process of data flow. In terms of interconnectivity of laws, despite Civil Code, the Criminal Law, the Data Security Law, and the Personal Information Protection Law are all reflected in respect of data security issues, but the interface among the civil, criminal and criminal law is not very smooth, ultimately resulting in challenges in effectively addressing certain violations.

4.2. Improving the Data Infrastructure

4.2.1. Improvement of Data Grounded Theory

At some level, the imperfect data-related fundamental institutions allow technology-based enterprises to collect, analyze, and use data arbitrarily, which contributes to data security risks and privacy infringement. The lack of clarity about the legal attributes of data has made it impossible for regulators to effectively regulate issues related to data security. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the foundational theory system of data. Liu liehong, the head of NDB, made the remarks at a forum at the second Global Digital Trade Expo. He said that the administration is pressing ahead with a series of works, such as improving the basic systems for data, promoting the circulation, transaction and utilization of data, bolstering data infrastructure construction, advancing research of key technologies in the data field, and strengthening data security governance. Subsequently, on January 4, 2024, the National Data Bureau collaborated with relevant departments to explore the implementation of a "Data Element X" plan for 2024-2026. These initiatives are important to bring the digital economy into a deeper stage of development and to provide theoretical foundational support for data security.

4.2.2. Improvement of Data Classification Regulations

According to the requirements in Article 21 of the Data Security Law, “The State is to establish a categorized and graded protection system for data. This system is designed to implement protection based on the importance of data in economic and social development, as well as the degree of danger to national security, public interests, or the lawful rights and interests of individuals or organizations, if data is altered, destroyed, leaked, or illegally obtained or used.” Subsequently, the Practice Guidelines for Cybersecurity Standards — Guidelines for Network Data Classification and Grading subsequently promulgated classify data into three levels according to its importance: namely, ordinary data, important data and core data. However since general data covers a wide range of data, the same level of security protection may not be able to meet the security needs of different types of data. Data handlers prioritize classification based on the basic framework provided. They can also refine the grading of general data, combining with the industry data classification rules or the organization's production and operation needs to refine the grading of general data.
However, there are also many challenges in the implementation of the regulations of data classification. For example, Article 40 of China's Constitution establishes a strict system for the protection of private communications, which is mainly regulated by telecommunication carriers and state organs. But modern Internet communication tools and exchange platforms form the problem that the content of communications can be easily forwarded, and the boundaries between private communication contacts and public information dissemination are unclear, This ambiguity is not conducive to the establishment of a security and protection order that is appropriate for different type of data. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between private communications and public information in Internet communication scenarios, making it easy for network operators and users to clarify the private or public attributes of the network socialization scenarios in which they are engaged. Subsequently, it would facilitate the establishment of strict confidentiality norms for private communications and orderly management of public information in accordance with the idea of categorization and management [14].

4.3. Improvement of Supporting Measures

To solve the current data security problems, we need not only need to continue to improve the laws and regulations, consolidate the basic theory of data, optimize and innovate the regulatory measures, but also to strengthen the data-related infrastructure facilities to meet the urgent need for secure data flow.
Firstly, data resources and data products in the current market are complex and diverse, which should be categorized based on data attribute categories, importance, risk level and other factors.
Secondly, in establishing a data property rights system guarantees rights and interests and compliant use. The system of structural separation of data property rights is at the core. According to Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Establishing a Data Base System to Maximize a Better Role of Data Elements, a classified and hierarchal ownership affirmation and authorization system for public data, corporate data and personal data shall be established. According to the characteristics of data sources and data generation, the legal rights enjoyed by each participant in the process of data production, circulation and use shall be defined respectively, and a property right operation mechanism with ownership of data resources shall be implemented. An example of this progress can be seen in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, where Data exchange Management Regulations (for Trial Implementation) were released at the municipal level. Shenzhen has taken the lead in exploring the concrete practice of structural separation of data property rights and standardizing the data exchange mechanism [15].
Finally, the focus should be placed on a compliance data exchange system. The compliance data exchange system is the key for optimizing the data circulation environment and strengthening data security, especially the system for cross-border data flow, which is even more important in the context of the current data security game among countries. Compliance and security are the red lines of data exchange, and the security compliance system can reduce the risk of leakage of personal information and national secrets.

5. Summary

Data security, whether from the national level, social level or individual level, has an extremely close relationship with national sovereign security, social stability, individual rights and interests, etc. On the one hand, data security is more closely linked to personal information, personal privacy, national security protection and other issues, making it the centralized manifestation of these issues. On the other hand, data as a carrier of various types of information, coupled with the non-exclusivity and renewability of data, has posed higher challenges to data security. Effective management of data security issues requires not only the continuous improvement of the theoretical system, but also needs to build a set of laws and regulations throughout the data collection, utilization, circulation, and other aspects of the system.

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