Protect personal information with law

China's top legislative body has vowed to develop a law on Internet administration to protect netizen's personal information and clean up information-related crimes in cyberspace, says an article in Beijing News Daily. Excerpts:

Spam emails, junk phone calls and leaks of personal information are the most common annoyances for Internet users. The endless disturbances from unsolicited contacts, including salespeople, real estate agents and insurance companies seems impossible to deal with after the rapid development of the Internet over the past decade. The continual harassment of junk information infringes on people's legal rights and makes people feel helpless.

The Internet administration law must include regulations on personal information protection. First, there must be an accountability system and strict supervision system in this area, covering all departments relevant to information security, including various commercial websites.

The law should give powers to, and reliable channels for, Internet users to complain through. With such a system Internet users can report the websites, banks, and insurance companies that leak users' personal information. The authority in charge of processing these complaints must respond to these reports. In fact, such channels have been there for a long time. But nobody takes them seriously because there is no point in complaining or reporting.

Hopefully, China's Internet administration law can change this situation and bring order and rules to China's cyberspace.