China: Supreme People’s Court of China publishes Judicial Interpretation regarding facial recognition

On 28 July 2021, the Supreme People’s Court of China publishes the Judicial Interpretation on the Application of Law in Civil Trials concerning the Application of Facial Recognition Technologies in Personal Information Processing. According to the interpretation, face information is due to its qualification as biometric identification information subject to strengthened data protection requirements (art. 1). In particular, consent will not be considered a sufficient legal basis for processing face information, (i), where it is not necessary, services are refused if consent is not given; (ii) if consent is part of a "bundled package" of services; or (iii) in case of any other form of forces consent (art. 4). The processing of facial information includes the collection, storage, use, processing, transmission, provision, and disclosure of facial information (art. 1).