China Cybersecurity And Data Protection: Key Changes In The Second Draft Of Personal Information Protection Law And Data Security Law

Second drafts of both the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) and Data Security Law (DSL) were released last month for public consultation. These are milestone new laws which will have a significant impact on how personal information can be handled and on data security in China. In this e-bulletin we highlight the key provisions of each draft law and set out our observations on the updated provisions. Given the importance of these legislative developments, we encourage companies to keep abreast of the progress of the draft laws. The deadline for submitting comments on the second drafts is 28 May 20211.

BACKGROUND

The draft PIPL and DSL were submitted to the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress for their first readings in October and June respectively last year (please click here for our comments on the PIPL and here for the DSL). In late April 2021, they were submitted to the Standing Committee for a second reading. Legislation normally goes through a total of three readings before being submitted to a vote by the Standing Committee. Whilst the first reading usually focuses on the necessity, feasibility and reasonableness of the proposed law, the second reading looks deeper into the key issues. The third reading is to resolve any remaining issues and finalise the draft legislation. The Standing Committee has not indicated a timeline for the third reading, but considering its current progress, we expect this to take place during the second half of 2021.
 

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For further information, please contact:

Nanda Lau, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills

nanda.lau@hsf.com