Draft law to protect personal privacy

Legislation will soon help Web users protect online privacy and ensure that they agree to any personal information being passed on.

The top legislature reviewed a draft on Monday that includes measures to strengthen protection of personal information.

Li Fei, a senior legislator involved in the draft at the National People's Congress, said the State must bolster protection for digital information that could be used to determine the identity of a user or that concerns a user's privacy.

"The safety of information is being challenged by rapidly developing technology. A great deal of criminal activity, such as online fraud, involves information being gathered illegally," he said.

"This jeopardizes the security of the State and society. But the necessary measures to counteract it are being hindered by a lack of legal support."

One of the highlights in the draft seeks to ban illegal trading of personal information.

"Organizations and individuals will be banned from illegally obtaining and providing, or selling, personal digital information," Li said.

"Internet service providers and government-sponsored institutions and companies should strictly ensure the privacy of personal digital information."

One recent case saw an innocent person's reputation blackened by false accusations spread online.

An employee of a real estate archive in Guangzhou was sacked on Saturday for illegally obtaining property information and releasing the information online, China National Radio reported.