Protection of Privacy

There is no data protection law or other laws that limit the government's interference with individuals' privacy in personal data, nor are there any laws or regulations that limit the ability of ISPs or ICPs in using and distributing personal data gathered through the Internet. As a result, many data protection practices that are controversial in the Western countries are currently not subject to legal restrictions in China, including making available or selling to third parties the personal data of customers without their permission or denying customers the ability to review the personal data collected on them and denying them the right to ask for the correction or cancellation of such data.

Most recently, some local regulations aimed at regulating information movement on the Internet have begun to emerge. In May 2000, the Beijing municipal government proposed draft regulations to standardize the delivery of business information via e-mail. It is significant that these draft regulations contain a clause that forbids unwanted e-mail, commonly known as "spam". Some major ISPs also formulated user policies to guard against "junk e-mails." For instance, in August 2000, China Telecom adopted protective measures against junk e-mail, which apply to all subscribers of China Telecom's Internet protocol network, including dial-up users, special line users and others using the network. China Telecom defined junk e-mail as unwanted messages that contain advertisements, publications and other materials; bulk e-mail that fails to specify return paths and senders' names and addresses; activities that use China Telecom's network to violate other ISP's security strategy or service terms; and other e-mail that may cause complaints. Users who are found to have violated these policies will be subject to sanctions ranging from warning to suspension of account and referral to the law-enforcement authorities.